If he thinks he’s tackling racism in football’
ability to fulfil your duty of care. Where are the black decisionmakers around you to at least give you an understanding of how to approach this issue?
Where in your statement is the mention of events at the Vasil Levski National Stadium on Monday night? Where is your acknowledgement of what the England squad went through in Bulgaria?
You describe UEFA’s sanctions as being “among the toughest in sport for clubs and associations whose supporters are racist at our matches”. Really?
Why, then, does your three-step protocol effectively allow thugs three chances to hurl their racist invective at black players as they did on Monday? Why were the officials unable to even execute the protocol properly, failing as they did to show leadership and take the players off the field after the second instance of abuse shortly before half time?
Do you really think the fans of Montenegro would have cried themselves to sleep over one match played behind closed doors and a fine of just £17,253 from your organisation after their racist abuse of England’s players in March? Admit it, UEFA are weak on the issue. Weak on standing up to clubs (especially the big ones) and weak on standing up to countries.
The players should not be determining the quality of their working conditions. The onus is on you to ensure they are safe. We know that racism remains a societal problem.
Other institutions, however, still have stringent punishments that act as a deterrent and serve to ensure employees can go to work without the fear of racist abuse.
On your watch, European football continues to blame everybody but itself.
When you call on the football family to wage war on racism, you are effectively calling on the sport to do your job for you. That is unacceptable.
If you cannot send out a stronger message from the top of the European game, then you should step aside – just as the president of the Bulgaria Football Union, Borislav Mihaylov, has done – and allow someone else to do so. THERE were times, not long ago, when the football family thought that the scourge of racism was a distant memory.
The last couple of years have taught us that such thinking was, at best, complacent. The rise of nationalism across the continent has fuelled some unacceptable behaviour and some have taken it upon themselves to think that a football crowd is the right place to give voice to their appalling views.
As a governing body, I know we are not going to win any popularity contests. But some of the views expressed about UEFA’s approach to fighting racism have been a long way off the mark. UEFA, in close cooperation with the FARE network (Football Against Racism Europe), instituted the threestage protocol for identifying and tackling racist behaviour during games. UEFA’s sanctions are among the toughest in sport for clubs and associations whose supporters are racist at our matches. The minimum sanction is a partial closure of the stadium – a move which costs the hosts at least hundreds of thousands in lost revenue and attaches a stigma to their supporters.
UEFA is the only football body to ban player for 10 matches for racist behaviour – the most severe punishmen level in the game. Believe me, UEFA is committed to doing everything it can to eliminate this disease from football. We cannot afford to be content with this; w must always strive to strengthen our resolve.
More broadly, the football family – everyone from administrators to player coaches and fans – needs to work with governments and NGOs to wage war on the racists and to marginalise their abhorrent views to the fringes of societ Football associations themselves canno solve this problem. Governments, too, need to do more i this area. Only by working together in the name of decency and honour will w make progress.