Bitter rivals send a firm message to UEFA chiefs

THE images we saw before yesterday’s Old Firm match will be remembered long after the details of the game itself are forgotten.

Scott Brown striding into Rangers’ half of the field during the warm-up to put a supportive arm around Glen Kamara.

Every player and backroom staff member from both sides silently standing tall for those few seconds before kick-off.

The message which would have been seen across the world was clear. No matter which shirt we wear, no matter what happens in this football match, we are united in our support for racial equality and our condemnation of racist behaviour.

To say this was powerful stuff would be a huge understatement. This was before the most bitter rivals in world football locked horns, but the importance of the game in the wider scheme of things was put in sharp perspective.

Those pictures dominated social media yesterday, even after the match had long ended.

After the sickening events of Thursday night at Ibrox and all the subsequent fall-out, this was much-needed and heartening for the game.

It said simply that footballers have had enough of the game’s authorities paying lip service to racism.

All season, up and down the United Kingdom, we’ve seen players take the knee to support equality.

Clearly, though, the feeling across the board is that without meaningful action by FIFA and UEFA, such things are just becoming empty gestures.

What more could UEFA do to punish the likes of Slavia Prague?

Let’s start with kicking them out of the competition. Fines and stadium closures don’t seem to be making any difference.

It feels like we’ve been having the same conversation in football since time began, so it’s time to accept that the punishments that have been meted out so far have not had the desired effect.

UEFA talk about a zero tolerance approach but that’s not what happens in practice. Saying to Slavia Prague that their interest

in the Europa League is now over as a direct result of what happened in Glasgow is now the only way to go.

Players have taken the knee, worn T-shirts, pinned badges to their tracksuits and backed numerous campaigns. That’s all well and good. But unless the right approach is taken from those running the game we will still find ourselves in this endless, depressing cycle.

We’ve seen players walking off the pitch. We’ve seen others taking racist fans to task. And on Thursday we saw Kamara (right), the quietest of quiet men, go ballistic at the words that were uttered to him from behind a coward’s hand.

How many more examples do we need to see before UEFA and FIFA recognise that this problem is not going away unless they change their stance? If players do walk off a pitch, will the governing bodies ever side with them? As it stands, it’s almost as if they will be made out to be the bad guys for spoiling a game. That’s so wrong. To me, it’s like the players are sending a letter to those running the game but it’s being returned unopened. This has to be progressive and that means a far tougher approach when instances of racism do arise. I saw an interview with Tyrone Mings, the Aston Villa player, in which he said he believed taking the knee was still worthwhile as it was being noticed. I fully respect that.

But you have to ask if anything has changed in all the years that these campaigns have been running? It doesn’t appear to be the case.

You go back 30 years ago and there were bananas being thrown at Mark Walters.

Racism might not be quite so visible now but social media has ensured it is still very much out there.

You don’t even have to go to a game these days to cast insults. Wherever you are in the world you can abuse a player online.

That’s a matter for the big tech companies too, but football has to get its house in order first. And in 2021, I don’t think that nearly enough is being done by those who could make a real difference.

It’s never been about black people against the racists. It’s every decent person uniting against the scourge of racism.

This is a war and it feels like it’s been escalated recently. If we are ever going to win it, we badly need a change of strategy.