Football cited for taking the easy option
Football’s authorities have been accused of “making excuses” for racism
Kick It Out’s head of development, Troy Townsend, has expressed his frustration at the growing number of racist incidents in English football.
And the governing bodies in Scotland would do well to take heed, given the furore over incidents involving the likes of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos and Aberdeen full-back, Shay Logan, recently.
Townsend said: “There’s always an excuse for the actions of racism, always an excuse. That’s why I can’t understand what we’re doing in this country in football.
“When you want to deduct nine points off Birmingham City for financial irregularities, you can do that.
“When you want to deduct points because Bolton Wanderers have no more money, you can do that.
“With racism people say: ‘What you going to do, take points off them? Chuck them out of a competition?’.
“Well if that’s what it takes, let’s do it.” Townsend believes football’s governing bodies fail to impose bigger sanctions on the perpetrators of racism because they do not properly understand it, nor the effect it has on players.
“Until you get better representation in the highest level of the game, then you’re never truly going to appreciate what someone is going through, or what they may have gone through, or their experience,” Townsend said.
“Where’s the representation? I don’t think anyone knows the exact stats.
“I think 30, 35, 40% of black and ethnicminority players are playing the game. But there seems to be a cork stopping how they can go and express themselves in coaching, managerial and boardroom positions. I don’t get it.”
Townsend said former Derby County midfielder Craig Ramage’s criticism of black players highlighted the issues surrounding racism in football.
Ramage has since been sacked by the BBC for making comments about Derby’s “young black lads” and claimed they needed “pulling down a peg or two”.
“It’s the fact that he said it and that he wasn’t pulled up about it,” Townsend added.
“The presenter didn’t shut down the comment. This guy didn’t get shut down by the bosses, the producers.
“The fact is that they put it online and then took it offline without saying to everybody: ‘We apologise for the content’.
“The only reason they acted was because of the outrage.”