STAN COLLYMORE
BLUES WILL TEST BOSS
DO I think there are individuals in Russia who are racist? Yes.
Do I think there are groups in Russia that are racist? Yes, again.
But do I think there is a higher percentage of people who are racist in Russia than I do in France, in Germany or in the United Kingdom? No, I absolutely do not. Obviously, Russia has had wellpublicised problems with racism over the years. And some of those episodes, like Spartak Moscow’s ‘How chocolate melts in the sun’ tweet, have been very recent.
Respect
But although fears are growing as the World Cup draws closer that supporters and players alike will encounter racism over there, I can honestly say I don’t believe there is anything to worry about.
Everyone knows I work for Russian TV station RT but the one thing I can promise is that I will be as honest on my shows as I am in my columns in The People and Daily Mirror.
And I, as a mixed-race Briton, have been to Moscow five or six times in the past year, to St Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi, and I have never been treated with anything other than kindness and respect. When I walk around, whether I’m interviewing someone or just out for an ice cream or a beer, I don’t get people looking at me strangely.
And it isn’t like I’m being shielded from racism over there.
When I’m working I go off on my own and speak to the people I choose to speak to without directions from anybody.
Should I ever feel that at I was being forced to do anything other her than that, then I really would just give up.
But I have never had any issues and I don’t think k there is anything to worry about in terms of racism in Russia this summer.
On one of my RT shows, which I will l reprise before the World d Cup finals begin in June, e, I interviewed one turbaned aned Liverpool supporter, two wo who were Asian and another her who was from Nigeria.
I asked them all about how they felt walking around Moscow as Reds fans and they all said they had had no problems.
Last summer, and this is something England boss Gareth Southgate has spoken about, there were between 7,000 and 8,000 Chilean supporters at the Confederations Cup. They turned up in their droves in Red Square and at various places across the country, and there were no problems whatsoever. Portuguese, Mexicans and Germans were there in large numbers, too, and Germany and Russia have certainly h had history in the pa past. B But there was no nothing, not one a arrest, and that w was the same when Liverpool and Manchester United went t there. And so, ge genuinely, when the British press pack go over in June, they need to start looking at what Russia is rather than what it isn’t. It is is a country that has 70 or 80, maybe more, ethnic groups who, for the most part, live harmoniously. What it is not is a country of people running around different towns and cities monkey chanting.
Of course, there are racists and racist groups of gangs in places where there is a lack of education and integration, but that is the same all over the world.
If you remember, there were the same concerns before the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, when the BBC ran a documentary that said, “If you are black or Asian, do not go to the Euros in Ukraine”.
Safe
I went out there working for talkSPORT and, during one walk, me and my co-presenter, Mark Saggers, saw a black man sitting in a park.
I went over with my dictaphone and, a little embarrassed, asked him how long he had been in Ukraine and whether or not he had encountered any problems with racism.
He told me had live there eight or nine years... and had not experienced one incident.
During the tournament a few Asian supporters turned up to England’s games and told me they had travelled out there because I’d said on the radio that it would be safe.
I’m certain it will be the same in Russia. WHOEVER takes over from Antonio Conte at Chelsea in the summer has a massive job on his hands.
Because if I were going in as the Blues’ new boss there’d only be two players I’d confidently hang my hat on.
You know what you are going to get from N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta but the rest of them, I’m not so sure.
Maybe Thibaut Courtois, because of the fact he showed some backbone in going to Atletico Madrid on loan for three years, would be included as well. But the others? Their wild inconsistency of the last few years tells you all that you need to know.
For a team of that talent to be champions, 10th, champions and then whatever they finish this season is embarrassing – and I’m convinced they’ve given up on trying for Champions League qualification this season already.