A social media boycott could be powerful... very powerful
STAMP OUT THE ABUSE:
IT IS 20 years since Thierry Henry sat on Arsenal’s team bus leaving Valencia’s Estadio Mestalla and wondered if he had done the wrong thing by mentioning the racist abuse he had suffered during the game.
‘I was thinking: “Should I have said that?”. It felt like it was taboo,’ says Henry. ‘Some people said: “Did he only mention that because they lost?”. Really? I later scored at Panathinaikos and I stood in front of their fans, arms folded in a stoic manner. They had made monkey noises all night. I was criticised for my celebration, even though I explained why. After that I said: “That can’t be right”.’
Two decades on and the message is the same, only the source of the abuse is different.
‘There has been an evolution in terms of abuse being reported inside the stadium, people became braver,’ he says. ‘But now we have a new problem, the abuse has moved to social media.’
That is why Henry has deactivated all his social media accounts, vowing only to return when changes are made to protect users from racism, bullying and abuse. The 43-year-old offers a vivid analogy of his experience on social media.
‘If you go to a restaurant with amazing food and wine but every time you get in a fight, why would you go back? You would say to the owner: “Hey, great food, but I like my nose and teeth. If you don’t sort out who comes in here, put some security on the door, I’m not coming back”.
‘Imagine saying to people: “Yeah, I’ve been to that restaurant 25 times and I always leave with a broken nose… but the food is good”. It doesn’t make sense.
‘If we do not alert people to the problem, then nothing happens. That is why I have taken my own action, not for applause, but to highlight the issue. Social media is a wonderful and important tool, but it needs to be safe.’
Henry (below) wants better accountability where all users are verified by way of official documentation. He does not, he stresses, want to take young people away from those networks. But he is concerned by the ‘like’ culture that dictates the happiness or otherwise of the current generation, including his own daughter.
‘My daughter was complaining to me that people were not reaching her on Instagram,’ he says. ‘She wanted “likes” and “comments”.
‘I said: “Hold on a minute, weren’t you at school with your friend just now?”. “Yes”. “So you guys talked and communicated?”. “Yes”. “So why are you mad that they didn’t make a comment on your picture?”. It was like her day was ruined.
‘I have seen it myself as a manager. The first thing players do after the game is check what fans or pundits said about them.
‘I see them scrolling down. The Wales players who were racially abused online last week, Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo, they should not have to see that.
‘And the answer is not: “Don’t go on social media”. You need to understand the new generation, not tell them what to do.
‘This is about those in power protecting people’s mental health. There must be more they can do.’
Our conversation moves on to the old mantra of: ‘Just ignore it, do not let them win’, and it irritates Henry.
‘You should not have to ignore it,’ he insists. ‘When I was racially abused on the field, guys would say: “Thierry, just ignore it”. Okay, I ignore it. One time, two times, 20 times. At what point can I have the opportunity not to ignore it? Ignoring it makes it easy for the people who should be taking action.
‘We need rules where we stop the match (when someone is abused). If someone attacked the referee, we’d stop. But when a player tries to walk off, everyone says: “Don’t go, stay. If you do that, then they win”.
‘No, it’s not about that. They will continue to win until the people in charge see what they can do better. Do not leave it to the individual who has been abused. Why should they have to make the decision?’
Henry believes change would be accelerated were representation at governance level not so demographically narrow.
‘If you sit at the table of whatever federation, and you do not have representatives of different communities, how do you expect people around the table to understand? Be that the black community, women’s football, religion or sexuality. If you’re not there to talk about it, how can you have an impact?’ Henry believes that a oneweekend social media boycott led by football clubs and players would make a statement, saying: ‘I am not putting anyone under pressure, it should be a feeling you have inside. But you should never underestimate the strength of the pack. Can that (a weekend boycott) be powerful? Yes, very powerful.’