THERE’S ALWAYS AN IDIOT, BORISLAV

INdISPUTABlY, it is very important to have zero tolerance of racism; but that doesn’t mean a country, an industry, a sport, can ever achieve zero racism. There will always be one, and probably more. Yet the inability to control misguided individuals or minority groups should not limit discussion. Equivalency is the problem. The notion that incidents in isolation which occur in English football — and invariably get called out instantly — limit freedom to comment on wider problems elsewhere. England’s match in Sofia last night was played at a partially closed stadium because of repeated instances of racism. These date from Bulgaria’s matches against Kosovo and the Czech Republic in June and were far from a first offence. Fans at levski Sofia have a history of far right associations, including wishing Hitler a happy birthday in n 2013 and aiming racist chants at their own player, Basile de Carvalho, from GuineaBissau. In 2014, they displayed a banner, ‘Say Yes To Racism’. They were forced to play two matches behind closed doors last season after further incidents of racism in defeat to FC Vaduz of Switzerland in the Europa league. Understandably, the preamble to last night’s match included talk of whether England’s players would leave the field if subjected to racist abuse. The Bulgarian federation complained and Gareth Southgate went into full equivalency mode. ‘I have to say again, we don’t look at other countries in a way that we don’t shine a mirror on our own,’ he said. ‘What happened in Hartlepool a couple of weeks ago was probably worse than things I’ve seen or heard about in many other countries.’ What happened in Hartlepool was a disgrace, yes. But what happened in Hartlepool involved a small group of supporters racially abusing a player from dover in a National league game, behaviour that was condemned instantly by both clubs, both managers and many players on social media. It certainly does not compare to having parts of the national stadium shut. What subsequently unfolded in Sofia last night confirmed this. A vile atmosphere, Nazi salutes and racist abuse from sinister black-clad thugs almost led to the game being called off. To the credit of England’s players it was not. den denounce the be behaviour of a laEaad large number of England fans acting boorishly abroad. denounce events in Amsterdam, in Sev Seville, in Porto. Yet al all our mealymouthed equivalency on racism did was empower Borislav Mihaylov (above), president of the Bulgarian Football Union, to say: ‘I don’t think we have as big a problem like England do. In the Bulgarian championship we have not had such problems while there have been incidents in all levels of English football involving racism.’ His words were empty and self-serving then, and seem appalling now. Yet, equivalency meant racism became just another English moan, and not an issue demanding attention. It laid the ground for the travesty in Sofia. It will remain that way while we continue equating one misguided individual to many of them.