I WISH WE’D STOOD UP TO RACISTS
NEVILLE EMBARRASSED FOR ‘ACCEPTING’ ABUSE TOWARDS TEAM-MATES
GARY NEVILLE is still “ashamed” that he failed to stand up for Ashley Cole when his England team-mate was racially abused in Spain.
Neville has admitted he is haunted by the lack of backing for Cole during the international at the Bernabeu Stadium in 2004.
“It’s appalling,” said Neville. “I sat next to Ashley Cole in that dressing room in Spain all those years ago, came off the pitch at the end of the game, got in the shower, didn’t say a word to him. I went and did my interviews, probably ignored or semi-answered the question on racism, walked onto the bus, went back home and didn’t think. I just accepted it almost.”
Every time he touched the ball, Cole – along with secondhalf substitute Shaun WrightPhillips – was subjected to monkey noises and insults by home fans in England’s 1-0 defeat, and FIFA later fined the Spanish FA £44,750.
Neville said: “I didn’t even say to him at the end of the game, ‘How are you?’ If I’m honest with you, I’ve got nowhere to go. The reality is we put racial abuse in the same category as the abuse we would receive for playing for Manchester United or England.We just put it down as abuse.
“We didn’t think, we just got on with it. It’s appalling and I’m ashamed of the fact, for someone who was on the PFA management committee and fought for players’ rights at nearly every level, I didn’t fight hard enough on this. It’s not good enough.”
Ahead of this week’s restart Sky Sports staff underwent racial awareness training with Kick It Out following the murder of George Floyd.
Neville concedes progress has been made from the days when England fans abused John Barnes to where the national team’s match in Bulgaria was halted twice last year.
But when Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger believed he had been racially abused at Tottenham last season, Neville claimed at the time: “We have a racism problem in the Premier League in England.”
Presenter David Jones later apologised for intervening to say: “I am compelled to say they are the views of you, Gary Neville, and not those of Sky Sports, that is my duty.”
Neville believes that the wider issue needs to be addressed immediately. “I feel now is the time for us to do something,” he said. “There have been steps made but it needs to get to the point it cannot be little steps any more.
“The idea of having a Kick It Out T-shirt on once a season, doing a picture in front of a flag and then basically not seeing it again for another 12 months is not enough.
“I genuinely think now there wouldn’t be one single person in this country who would disagree with the action of walking off the pitch if a player was being racially abused.
“Ultimately, it’s quite simple – it is unacceptable.
“What we’ve seen in the last few weeks, the protests have been enlightening. I felt warm, I felt tingly a little bit about watching it. The passion, the feeling, the intensity of it. I felt that ultimately it feels like something a bit different.
“Football will return on Wednesday and the talk will be about goals, VAR and penalties. We shouldn’t let racism drop off the agenda.” ●The Premier League returns to Sky Sports with a doubleheader on Wednesday, June 17, followed by a further 20 matches which will see all 20 teams live on Sky Sports and NOW TV in the opening two weeks. Sky Sports and NOW TV will show 64 matches – 39 exclusive to subscribers and an extra 25 available on Sky’s free-to-air channel ‘Pick’.
NEIL McLEMAN listens to the former England defender and Sky Sports pundit demanding more is done to address the big talking point on everyone’s lips – and saying he was guilty of not doing enough during his playing days