FOR JUSTICE ON RACISM, FA HAVE TO AIM HIGHER
In 1989, having won their first title under George Graham, Arsenal travelled to Florida to play Independiente of Argentina in an exhibition match. Actually, it was labelled the unofficial World Club Championship — although as there was an official World Club Championship taking place later that year between AC Milan and Atletico nacional, of Colombia, nobody was quite sure why. Arsenal’s version took place at the Joe Robbie Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins, and was memorable for a truly horrendous performance by local referee Paul Dominguez, capped when he sent off Arsenal physiotherapist Gary Lewin for encroaching on to the pitch to treat a stricken Gus Caesar. Lewin thought he had been summoned, Dominguez disagreed. This confusion would have been bad enough were referees allowed to send physios to the stands. They cannot due to fairly obvious issues around player welfare. What the officious Dominguez did overlook, however, was the incessant racist abuse directed at Arsenal’s black players by their opponents. ‘They only knew one English word,’ David Rocastle, scorer of both goals in a 2-1 Arsenal win, said of Independiente. ‘It began with n.’ So a large pinch of salt is required if we are to entertain Leeds goalkeeper Kiko Casilla’s defence that, at 33, the first time he had even heard this word was when he was accused of using it towards Charlton’s Jonathan Leko, an exchange that has earned him an eight-game ban. There is a 62-page FA report justifying this punishment, including credible witness testimony from Charlton’s Macauley Bonne. It was enough to satisfy the balance of probabilities and that is all the FA require in such cases. Leeds claim the burden of proof should be no different from a court of law: beyond reasonable doubt. Casilla is not the wronged party here but they do have a point. The FA will argue that the balance of probabilities as a means of conviction is good enough for, among others, the General Medical Council and the majority of civil cases. Yet it sets a staggeringly low bar of 51 per cent belief, were such a concept mathematically quantifiable, meaning even with a 49 per cent chance an event did not happen, the accused could still be found guilty. When the stigma of such a verdict amounts to a lifetime sentence, is that right? Disgustingly, Leko and Bonne have been subjected to further racist abuse on social media. Yet is this, in part, because the FA do not aim higher; to convict beyond reasonable doubt? Would Casilla’s plea of ignorance have stood up in a court of law? It was about as convincing as Wayne Hennessey’s claim to have never heard of the nazis when censured for making an offensive gesture at a private party. It does not help that an FA court appears to be of the large Australian marsupial kind and immediately lacks credibility with its low burden of proof and high conviction rate. Casilla should have been brought to book in a way that left no room for argument. As FA justice stands, a case can always be made against the process, therefore undermining it.