‘Racist abuse of footballers is shocking, but not unexpected’
DISCRIMINATION
A FORMER Leicester City player has spoken of his disgust at the “huge increase” in discriminatory behaviour by fans at football matches.
However, Neil Danns said he is not surprised by the turn of events.
Neil, who played for the Foxes between 2011 and 2014, made the comments at the Liverpool Against Racism conference, which was created in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
He said the discrimination black players faced in the game was far from surprising, but he still felt “disgusted” by it.
He made reference to the abuse suffered by three England players in the wake of the penalty shootout defeat against Italy in the final of Euro 2020.
He believed the Wembley defeat in July last year when three black players – Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka – missed their penalties gave racists “an excuse”.
“After we got knocked out, I remember thinking instantly ‘I know where this is going.’
“You could see the narrative that was going to be painted,” he said.
The abuse directed at the three England players led to anger from many, including politicians.
Last month, one teenager was jailed for six weeks after he sent racist abuse to Manchester United forward Rashford following his penalty miss.
Neil said the incidents were halfexpected, though.
“This was an excuse for the racists to come out of the closet. I was disgusted, as anyone would be, with some of the comments, but it was something I definitely wasn’t surprised by,” he said.
Liverpool-born Neil, 39, who represented Guyana at international level, made his comments as Rishi Jain, equality, diversity and inclusion manager for Liverpool, said the biggest challenge in the past 18 months since Covid-19 struck had been some fans relearning how to act in public.
“There has been a huge increase in discriminatory and offensive behaviour, and not just at Anfield,” said Rishi.
“I think people have forgotten how to behave.”
As for Neil, who is now a coach at Liverpool, he said that while he believes black representation in the sport is improving, he still finds the lack of black managers in football to be alarming.
“The saddest part about it is although I’ve played over 600 games, played for over 23 years, my first thought about coaching was I might be a first team coach, not that I might be a manager,” Neil admitted.
“It’s the harsh reality of the game. It is changing at lower levels but it is definitely time to start changing at the top.”
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