The religious bigots must be tackled too

TWO Hearts fans arrested after allegedly racially haranguing Motherwell’s Christian Mbulu. A man given a police warning over abuse directed at black Falkirk player Dennon Lewis. Celtic winger Scott Sinclair and Aberdeen full-back Shay Logan picked on by the hard of thinking. PFA Scotland have released a statement condemning racism in Scottish football, calling it ‘totally unacceptable’. Show Racism the Red Card, meanwhile, says the national game has to confront the discrimination head on. They’re absolutely right, of course. But where are the statements when religious discrimination takes place in a Scottish ground almost every week? Sports writers tend not to report every bigoted chant on the basis that, if we did, we’d never write about anything else. And the whataboutery would be chronic. Nevertheless, an awkward question has to be asked. What makes thousands of fans wading up to their knees in ‘fenian blood’ or calling an opposition manager an ‘orange b ****** ’ any different to abusing players for the colour of their skin? Scottish football has become so desensitised to religious bigotry it’s now seen as part of the wallpaper.