Sterling abuse was spiteful and wrong. But people CAN change
W‘Dean’ was one of the quartet caught on camera abusing raheem sterling. he isn’t the man accused of racism but is suspended from stamford Bridge anyway, for behaving in a wholly anti- social manner. It was the right action for Chelsea to take.
Last night’s condemnation of anti-semitic chanting was another statement of intent. the hope should be it is not a message that will require repetition. this is the crossroads. this is the battle we dare not lose. Fortunately, a lot of people sound up for it.
Colin Wing, 60, meanwhile, has been identified as the alleged racist. And while he denies this, he admits swearing at sterling. ‘even if it wasn’t racist, it’s not right what I said,’ Wing admitted.
‘the swearing is bad, but I got carried away. I apologise unreservedly to raheem and hope he can be a better man than I am by accepting it.’
the point is, they knew they were wrong. At the time and most certainly now. there was no attempt to defend the behaviour as letting off steam, no argument that we risk sanitising the game by censoring gratuitous anger. they had crossed a line, and admitted it. there was a sense of shame, of embarrassment, of ownership. they had not enjoyed that reflection in the mirror.
It’s a small step but now, at least, we are getting somewhere. It may not seem that way after a section of Chelsea’s support shamed the club again last night in hungary. But when a club accuses its fans of lacking ‘brainpower’, it is fair to say a line has been drawn.
there has been a lot of talk about where football travels from here, but the only way forward is to address the culture of abuse that is the new normal in stadiums. to make abuse of the type sterling received — not just the racist abuse, but all of it — socially unacceptable.
that some of the men ganging up on him conceded they were wrong is a start. the nature of Chelsea’s condemnation is stage two. this is the push back.
Wing was approached for his comments by this newspaper, but Dean phoned a radio station of his own volition, seeking to make good. It can be argued miscreants know what to say when confronted, and the soul-searching is just an act. Yet perhaps take it at face value, for now.
this is a teachable moment. the choice is simple: to accept responsibility and change, or carry on as we are. And we can’t carry on like this. We can’t carry on as some Chelsea fans did last night.
SterLIng used the incident to make a wider point about media coverage of black and white players, and that is valid, too. But it is a rejection of individual responsibility to pretend there were four puppets at the front of the Matthew harding stand last saturday shorn of free will, responding only to noises off.
It isn’t the media fomenting anti-semitism, either, so what is the explanation for what happened in Budapest? Bottom line: those joining in the anti-semitic chanting knew what they were doing. the mission is to make them face up to it.
And if we can, it will change. We can catch ourselves. It has been done before. there was a time drink- driving was considered normal, too. In television shows like Only Fools And Horses and
Minder, to see a character getting behind the wheel having left a pub or bar is entirely unexceptional. Yet, over time, attitudes altered.
Yes, punitive prison sentences played a huge part. Yet, equally, campaigns promoting social hen ‘ Dean’ called in to talksport on Monday, he sounded very contrite. Apologetic, too. ‘It was a passionate game and we needed to win, but that really is no defence,’ he said. ‘I don’t defend it. I apologise for anything I said that was offensive. that language shouldn’t have come out.’
awareness and the dangers of causing terrible harm made the drink-driver less of a Jack the Lad, more a pariah. Attitudes changed. We knew it was wrong.
In football, similar advancement is taking place on the touchlines of junior matches. The FA has reinforced messages around negative parental behaviour. And while it still exists, it is being addressed. The days of the abusive dad are numbered.
The battle cannot be won overnight, but we are getting there. A recent FA report said nine out of 10 youth matches are now rated a positive experience by players, parents and volunteers and while that may seem over-optimistic, there is definite improvement.
This is important because it shows attitudes can be changed by education without recourse to the law. Campaigns against drink- driving have an entire legal process backing them up, as does racist chanting, but within parameters of aggression and threat, there is no law against swearing at a person.
You can pretty much call a footballer what you want, as long as you remain the right side of hate crime. Yet even without a racist element, what happened to Sterling was horrible and if we can address that level of abuse, then racist, homophobic or sexist talk dies.
not entirely, obviously. We should aim for zero, but it is unlikely we will ever get it. Last night proved that. We can change patterns of behaviour, though. We can recalibrate what we regard as normal.
‘I’m deeply ashamed by my behaviour,’ said Colin Wing. He should be. So should the fans who dragged Chelsea through the mire last night. And remorse doesn’t excuse what transpired. But accepting individual responsibility? That’s the start. And we go from there.