Yeah at the moment, a few months back there were a couple of incidents. Suarez from Uruguay called Patrice Evra (a black French player) a term that he says is a term of affection in his homeland but was taken as a racist insult.
Then John Terry the England captain called Antoine Ferdinand a black b**tard or something or other.
I mean both are unacceptable, both were dealt with but as others have said its very tiring hearing the media reaction and fans reaction of outrage because its not them taking a stance on racism its more about a partisan one-up-manship and a chance to accuse other clubs of racism. Since then there has been a big clamp down and every week you here police are investigating allegations that someone chanted something from the sidelines.
In a way its good its proven unacceptable and there is zero tolerance in effect. What annoys me is that people think there is a racist streak in football or this country. Its actually one of the more tolerant footballing cultures in the world, compared to Spain and Serbia where England players have been subjected to monkey chants by whole sections of the crowd, I mean in some countries its really inherent. When England lodge complaints the countries get a 2000 euro fine and a 65,000 euro fine. A real token gesture.
I think English football is quite reflective of English society 99% of people who go to the grounds and enjoy the game and avoid racist chanting. It’s only the odd idiot and when it’s heard an arrest is made (even on twitter plenty of police action if people hurl abuse) in my view its doing well at managing it but in some quarters its all about English football in crisis. The only reason it’s an issue is because it’s dealt with so effectively, rather than totally ignored abroad. But you have to think of something to fill the column inches.
As Poguesy says, I love Everton FC but I'm pretty sick of Football in general, it’s become a pathetic sport being capable of demonstrating a complete absence of moral values while summoning up mock moral outrage at every opportunity.
You go to watch Rugby and Cricket and it restores your faith in humanity with fans getting on and having a drink and mingling. I remember sitting behind the park end at a Mersey Derby match (Everton v Liverpool) at half time queuing for a beer and watching a chorus of "the babies not yours, oh Steven Gerrard the babies not yours" about daft alleged rumours about the Liverpool captain's paternity of his own kids. There were kids joining in, even a granny you’re scratching your head thinking no one would do this outside of the stadium! But take your pick, Hillsborough disaster, Munich disaster, allegations of rape players being deformed and looking like the elephant man. Nothing is out of bounds it seems albeit the more sick chants tend to be a minority, going to a game it is easy to get swept up in the tribalism of it all. So when it’s as bad as that, hearing just one person make one racist remark is amazing really, it’s the one area most fans don't look to hurl abuse about.
Ahh don't get me started. Football has become a corporate farce, bleeding the cash from fans stupid enough to shell out money they can't afford supporting teams who don't give a stuff about them and the media constantly looking for another way to stir up controversy. All you ever see on the pitch is diving and cheating too, it’s no longer a man's game but played by pathetic spoilt idiots.
theraab said:
I'm assuming you mean soccer (in America, football is a real sport). Anyway, when I first read what you wrote, I thought, "WTF is he talking about; 3/4 of pro players are black" then I realized what you meant.
Is there some controversy about race in soccer over there?
Oh and Raab... err no we mean football, you call it soccer because you'd already used the term "football" for a sport played mainly with ball in hand!
And...American football a real sport? Protective shoulder pads? 10 seconds of play then taking a break again? One team for offense, one for defense? One guy whose only job is just to kick a field goal?
Now Rugby.. thats a real sport, 15 v 15 where a 5ft 9 in winger can tackle a 6ft 10in forward and the big guys can equally dance around the little guys to score (Or try to!) oh and no shoulder pads!
In fairness give me Rugby any day but I do quite like American Football!
