Stop blame game

MONDAY night in Sofia was depressing. The racist abuse raining down on England’s black players was vile and Bulgaria manager Krasimir Balakov’s reaction was laughable. He was the only one who didn’t hear the monkey chants. He was in denial and denial is a huge part of the problem. Many on social media rightly condemned the appalling scenes but we also got the whataboutery brigade. ‘What do England and their fans expect? English fans have a reputation for xenophobia and violence.’ Maybe there is some truth to these observations, but they miss the point. Just because our fans misbehave, do they deserve to get it back? It’s kindergarten stuff, but it’s how large swathes of people think. Whataboutery solves absolutely nothing. Serious change will only come when fans and society stop using history and the actions of others as excuses. We cannot change the past but we can be ashamed of it and learn from it. To move forward and rid the game of racism, sectarianism, sexism and abuse, we need to stop this blame game. We all need to start taking responsibility for our own actions. That includes UEFA.