Racism rears its head again

WE have been here before and it is another reminder that football has a decidedly long way to go before it can rid itself of the scourge of racism.

Last week Raheem Sterling, a talented player campaigning in Manchester City colours, was racially abused by fans at a match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Fulham, west London.

Sterling is a black player, the perpetrators of the abuse were white fans.

Many will say this kind of thing happens at football matches where fans can be rowdy, rude and just plain uncouth against players of the opposition team, so what’s the big deal.

This country comes from a past where racial abuse was the norm in all spheres of society. Sports administrators under a new dispensation over the years have promised to do everything they can to kill off this demon wherever it raises its dastardly head.

But despite the good intentions there are still incidences of racism in the higher echelons of the game.

Earlier this year Fifa, the world governing body, feared the worst in Russia at the World Cup, including how the louts on the terraces would treat black players from the five African countries.

They instructed the match officials to adopt a zero tolerance approach if players were abused by calling off games.

That no match was affected showed the message got through to the yobbos.

Since that worked well, surely all the federations should take a similar stance and perhaps those who cannot control themselves may think twice.

In SA, poor crowd behaviour has seen clubs fined and fans locked out of stadiums because they persist with unsavoury behaviour.

Sterling, when abused just laughed it off “because I don’t expect no better”.

It is commendable that high-profile black players like Sterling speak out as it gets the attention of the authorities such as Simone Pound, the Professional FA Head of Equality and Diversity in the UK. Pound feels “football is a microcosm of society and incidents such as this highlight the current political climate”.

He said they stood by the player for speaking out against discrimination, racism and prejudice.

But speaking out requires a response beyond just lip service. There needs to be a great effort to combat the toxicity which pervades sport globally.

That may be a tall order indeed, as we in South Africa know only too well.

But despite the good intentions there are still incidences of racism in the higher echelons of the game