‘It’s harder for black players’
Racist targeting of Premier League stars like Raheem Sterling have spiralled out of control, and nobody appears to know what to do about it…
LAST night it was claimed that white players were given an easier ride than black players by the media when they make it into the England squad.
Sky pundit Gary Neville said: ‘I think over the past few days I’ve heard people mention “Well, yeah, Gazza got stick and David Beckham got stick and Wayne Rooney got stick”, and I lived closely to those two lads in terms of witnessing it.
‘It was horrific the stick, the vilification they got when it was bad or when they made mistakes. But, you know, when it was good for them they were hero-worshipped. When it’s good for Ashley Cole or Raheem Sterling, they can’t get the hero worship.
‘Even when you look back at my time with England, when Rickie Lambert scored that goal or when Jamie Vardy came into the team. “Oh, he’s one of ours”.
‘It wasn’t like that when Danny Welbeck came into the squad or, say, when Marcus Rashford came in.’
Reflecting on the alleged racist abuse against Raheem Sterling which led to Chelsea banning four supporters following Saturday’s home match against Manchester City, Neville said: ‘Raheem Sterling, what he did yesterday with his Instagram post has forced us to take it on – so that’s a start. It’s not undertones, it’s blatant. He’s been carrying this now for years. This is not just a Chelsea fan. To perform like he has done is a miracle, almost.
‘Raheem came to see me oneon-one during Euro 2016. Pre-tournament, he was getting absolutely battered. Getting so much stick, we were aware of that. Fans were onto him, the media was onto him. Asking a lot of questions about him. It was so vicious, he felt so targeted, he didn’t know what to do about it. It then continued into the tournament, into the stadiums.
‘He walked in and started to download on me – why was this happening? Why was this so accepted?
‘I saw someone that has a great mentality and is tough, but is also vulnerable in terms of how does he deal with it, how does he cope with it, how does he come out of it? Really, as a coach, reflecting on it, I didn’t really know how to deal with it. I went into what would be protective mode.
‘Reflecting now, maybe we brushed it aside a little bit. It’s happened to players before you but really, deep down, understanding that there was a tonal difference to the attacks that he was getting compared to others.
‘In that tournament Harry Kane, who is the blue-eyed boy of English football, was having a difficult time and it was portrayed because he was on corners. Raheem was having a difficult time and it was because of more personal reasons at times and the language used towards him was difficult.
The Premier League has funded an app on which supporters can report racist behaviour they witness via their mobile phones.
The Professional Footballers’ Association said they stood ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Sterling and accused sections of the press of targeting him.
‘It is evident that he is often singled out and treated more harshly than his colleagues,’ said a union statement. We have been aware for a few months of the targeting Raheem faces in the press.’ – Daily Mail