A WATFORD STAR, AN ENGLAND COACH AND A RACIALLY ABUSED PLAYER OPEN UP
AS sport continues to mobilise behind the Black Lives Matter movement after the shocking death of George Floyd, Sportsmail speaks to three people who have suffered racial injustices in football.
PREMIER LEAGUE footballers are not about to be silenced on this issue. More than ever, they understand the power they have to reach the masses.
Those with a gift for communication like Watford’s Christian Kabasele will seize the chance to take the fight against racism into people’s living rooms when the season restarts.
There will be messages of defiance for an armchair audience, be they scribbled on vests like Jadon Sancho or other symbolic gestures in support of Black Lives Matter, a movement re-energised on a global scale since the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota, USA.
‘It is important to give this message around the games,’ insists Kabasele. ‘These games will be more watched than ever before. We can reach a lot of people through the games. Why should we not give this message?
‘I am sure in the Premier League there will be moments to show our support to the fight against racism. I don’t know the best way to do it. It’s a question of context. Let’s see what is possible to do.’
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was among the first of sport’s big names to speak out. Hamilton said he was ‘overcome with rage’. England winger Sancho revealed the message ‘Justice for George Floyd’ on his vest after scoring for Borussia Dortmund.
Others, including social media stars such as Paul Pogba of Manchester United, have issued messages and images, and Aston Villa centre half Tyrone Mings joined a Black Lives Matter protest march in Birmingham on Thursday.
In the Premier League, almost a third of players are from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background and, at Watford, the subject has dominated conversations as they stepped up training.
‘Most of them have the same feeling,’ says Kabasele when asked about his teammates. ‘It’s disgusting. It’s not something new, but it’s disgusting and everybody is aware it’s a big problem in our society. There is less in Europe, more in America, but it is a shame that in 2020 there are still situations like this.
‘The most important thing is for people to educate their children and friends, to open the minds of those people who think the black person is maybe more stupid and less able. That we are destined to be in jail, criminals.
‘If we can keep talking and eduto cating the people around us, especially the children because they are the adults of tomorrow, then we have a chance to win this battle but it is not easy because so many people are closed in on themselves and are not prepared to welcome others.
‘It is a tough situation but we need to be strong and keep fighting. In football, in England, we have Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card, doing a great job, and we need to keep doing this, even in these difficult moments we will keep fighting. One thing is for sure we will do everything we can to stop this problem.’
Kabasele is used to standing up to fight back against racism. In Belgium, he celebrated a goal with monkey actions in response vile chants from the stands. Earlier this season he took issue with social media firms when he was a target for online abuse.
He summons his own multi-cultural background to illustrate the reason he will always step forward and confront racism. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo when it was known as Zaire, he moved with his family to Brussels before he was a year old.
‘My grandfather is white,’ says Kabasele. ‘My mother is mixed race. My dad is black. I’m married to a white woman. My kids are mixed race. If I was just with my people I would be missing a lot of things in my life. I am very happy with my life. I have a lot of different cultural mix in my family.
‘We need to respect everyone. I don’t like the idea one person doesn’t have the same chance as another just because one is black and another one is white. I don’t like it when people are unfair. ‘I am lucky to be a footballer and I don’t have the same problems when it comes to getting a job, or a job interview, so I try to speak about it as much as possible and help those who don’t have the same chance as me.’
He has blacked out the profile on his Twitter account and linked it to the Black Lives Matter homepage, adding a hashtag in support of justice for George Floyd. ‘Hopefully when people visit my page they see there is more to it than being a Premier League footballer,’ he says. ‘There is a fight we are all part of to eradicate this problem.
‘Not only footballers but musicians, actors, comedians, politicians; everybody who can reach a lot of people needs to raise their voice, tackle this problem, speak about it as much as possible.’
They will not fear reprisals despite the experience of Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who knelt during the national anthem in protest against racial injustice and is now without an NFL team.
‘I respect him 200 per cent,’ says Kabasele. ‘He doesn’t have a club any more but he kept believing in what he thought in that moment was good to do. He had the balls to do that and to keep thinking this way. He didn’t change his mind because he wanted to find another club. It’s a shame nobody has confidence in him. It’s as though he killed someone. He expressed his feeling and punished. That’s a shame.’
Kabasele’s views on football’s restart are equally strident. He is under no illusions about the driving force before the Premier League’s return and joked that Project Restart had been titled like an X-Men movie.
‘It’s all about money,’ he says. ‘If you go past a certain date there is a lot of money to be paid back to TV. It’s obvious to everybody. If you have played football at a certain level you will know that you need six to eight weeks of preparation. We don’t have this time. The money is talking.’
Yet he does not object and is ready to engage in Watford’s battle against relegation. ‘We have everybody at the training ground and everybody’s aware there is a difficult mission in front of us,’ he adds. ‘We need to give everything to stay in the League.
‘We will need everybody because we will play a lot of midweek games. We will not be safe only with 15 or 16 players. It will be about all of the squad.’
And he rejects the theory that Watford and others in relegation trouble might have preferred not to complete the season.
‘It’s a nonsense,’ he says. ‘It’s ridiculous to say we don’t want to come back because we are afraid to go down. We have to play the last nine games. There’s no way you can escape it. I would not be happy if I was a Bournemouth player and we went down for only one goal difference, I would be upset because the team staying up doesn’t have more points.
‘I prefer that everything is settled on the pitch. We normally play 38 games and the important thing is to play all these games. If it is not possible then yes, take another option, but we need to be fair.’
In football and in life. is
‘If we keep talking and educate people, we have a chance to win this battle’