Racism needs to top and game’s
REPORTS
THE bad old days are back.
That was the stark but immediate reaction of former Crystal Palace and Arsenal striker Ian Wright when images first appeared of what appeared to be despicable racist abuse aimed at Raheem Sterling.
“Chelsea you have been shamed by this disgusting racist fan!” he continued in his Twitter post. “Absolutely no doubt about what he says.”
Of course, Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police must establish the facts before deciding what is the appropriate action to take.
But yesterday football was taking no chances and the governing body reacted quickly to try to stamp out a vile disease that, despite all the best collective efforts for the game and society in general, never seems to completely go away.
“We take all allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and will work with the clubs and the relevant authorities to ensure this matter is dealt with appropriately,” said an FA spokesperson.
“We strongly condemn all forms of discrimination and encourage all fans and participants who believe that they have been the subject of, or witness to, discriminatory abuse to report it through the appropriate channels: the FA, our county FAs or our partners Kick It Out.”
The anti-racism charity was quick to offer specific support. “Yet another great day of football has been damaged by prejudice,” a statement said. “We’ve received reports from a variety of sources about an incident of alleged racist abuse and we will forward those to Chelsea and offer our support in their investigation.”
But their founder blamed a lack of leadership at the top of football for not sending out a stronger message, specifically naming the chairmen of the Premier League, FA and Chelsea.
“What happened at Chelsea shows what is still going on in football,” said Lord Ouseley in a statement.
“Where is Richard Scudamore, Greg Clarke, Chelsea’s chairman? They should have been talking out last night and it has to be dealt with at the top. We do not have any leadership at the top of the game to speak out, they rely on Kick it Out.”
Thankfully, there were plenty of high-profile figures within the game ready to add their condemnation of the incident.
“Are we going to continue to allow this type of racist behaviour go on???” Rio Ferdinand had tweeted when the incident first came to light. Yesterday, another former Manchester United
Where are Clarke and Scudamore?
player, Patrice Evra, who was himself found to be the victim of racist abuse by former Liverpool player Luis Suarez in 2011, expressed his despair that racism continues to be an issue in football seven years later.
“I saw what happened with Raheem Sterling yesterday,” he tweeted. “How does this happen still in 2018?!
“It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is or your religion or what country you are from we need to be kind to each other. Love is so much more powerful than hate.” Nevertheless,
THE look of disdain on the face of Raheem Sterling towards three mindless idiots, grown men happy to embarrass themselves in video footage that has circulated the world, spoke volumes.
Nevertheless, it was the quiet message of his Instagram post yesterday morning that now must be heard by everybody.
Despite only turning 24 on Saturday, Sterling feels more than capable of standing up to the ugliest vitriol – racist or not – that the more moronic supporters up and down the country insist on throwing at him on a weekly basis.
So he took this opportunity to make a wider point. Sterling could have chosen his very public platform to condemn his abuser yesterday. Instead, he