GARY NEWBON Game hasn’t got tough on racism yet, home or away
THERE is a continuing epidemic of racism in football – and part of the blame must be apportioned to the people who run the game.
Not that the problem has ever gone away.
UEFA and FIFA have been a disgrace with the weak stances they have taken in punishing racism. Too lenient and too often.
The latest example comes from UEFA who have given serial offenders Bulgaria a one-match stadium ban after the recent racial abuse to England players; plus another match SUSPENDED for six months and a fine of 75,000 Euros (around £64,000).
This was Bulgaria’s THIRD offence in four months. They should have been thrown out of the Euro 2020 Championship.
Wolves this season should have played behind closed door in Bratislavia only for their opponents to give away 22,000 tickets. UEFA should have stopped that.
Tottenham rightly want UEFA to take serious action with Red Star Belgrade if Spurs players are racially abused by the home spectators in tomorrow night’s European Champions league match in Serbia.
Red Star were fined £45,000 after racist chanting and behaviour by their followers at a qualifier in Helsinki in July. Their fans were banned from travelling to Tottenham last week but 300 still managed to get tickets!
Croatia were fined £10,000 for the racist chants from their followers against Turkey at Euro 2008.
Four years later, Porto were fined £16,000 for their supporters making monkey chants towards Mario Balotelli of Manchester City.
Pathetic punishment especially when reminded that former Birmingham
England’s win in Bulgaria was soured by repeated racist chanting from the stands
City player Nicklas Bendtner was fined £80,000 by UEFA for wearing unauthorised sponsorship on his underpants while playing for Denmark at Euro 2012.
And Manchester City were done for £24,000 for delaying the start of the second half of a European tie at Sporting Lisbon.
Talk about getting your priorities wrong.
Fining top clubs/nations is a useless punishment when their football turnovers are millions.
Expulsion at every level is the real answer .
UEFA do have a three-stage protocol
system to deal with racism from the terraces.
Why does it have to be in three parts?
One warning should be enough…and then stop the game/ throw the offenders out.
It is not as if English football is immune from racism. Far from it.
Yeovil should have been kicked out of this season’s FA Cup after some of their visiting supporters racially abused Haringey Borough’s black goalkeeper.
The home side walked off in protest and the tie was abandoned.
Instead of any punishment, the FA ordered the tie to be replayed and Yeovil won 3-0. Not good enough.
It’s clearly easier to hit individual players than clubs.
In September 2012, Chelsea defender John Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 after the FA found him guilty of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand – although Terry’s spokesman said Terry was “disappointed” by the FA reaching a different conclusion
to the law court who found him not guilty.
Now the FA have launched an investigation after it was reported that the Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla will be hit with a lengthy ban if he is found guilty after allegations the Spanish player racially abused Charlton’s on-loan Albion player Jonathan Leko. The verdict is expected tomorrow but an eight to 12-match ban has been mooted.
Players must set an example and be dealt with severely if the allegations are proven. But so, too, clubs must control their own followers.
I do not want to tempt providence but, hopefully in the multicultural West Midlands, football crowds set good examples.
A footnote... The longest serving manager in both the Premier League and the EFL is now Wycombe’s Gareth Ainsworth, who was caretaker in September 2012 before becoming full manager weeks later in November. What a business – scary really!
nFOOTBALL supporters are probably tired of the comparison with rugby supporters who are most of the time respectful as are the players.
One of the great sights in the history of the Rugby World Cup was the South African No.6 Francois Pienaar lifting the Cup with the black South African President Nelson Mandela. They united their nation.
The same thing hopefully helped a nation (that has its troubles back home) in Japan on Saturday when South Africa’s first black captain Siya Kolisi, also the No.6, raised the Webb Ellis Cup (pictured). Prince Harry embracing the black South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the end was an emotive sight as well.
When you think, too, there were seven black players in their starting line up and 12 in the squad compared with one 24 years ago that is real progress.
As for the final, we were all disappointed to see England outplayed in the scrums and lineouts giving away too many penalties. England made too many errors.
So England’s sole triumph remains 2003.
England’s head coach then and now ITV’s pundit Sir Clive Woodward will be the guest speaker at the Lord’s Taverners annual Charity Christmas lunch at the County Cricket ground at Edgbaston.
It’s always a great event. For tickets, contact Emma Jones at emma.jones@ lordstaverners.org