No one should rush to judgment... the very least Fuchs deserves is a full investigation
CONSIDER this a test case not merely for Scottish football, but for the country as a whole. Because we Scots proudly consider ourselves front-line combatants in the war on racism.
Especially on the depressingly regular occasions when it distracts from our enjoyment of the beautiful game, we’ll be there to call it out.
Even if you believe irony to be dead, buried and far beyond the restorative reach of the most dedicated satirist, however, you’ll have noticed something a little off about the variable reactions to each fresh outrage.
Show us a faceless mob of ‘foreign’ hooligans committing a clear-cut offence and the court of public opinion will, quite rightly, not hesitate to convict.
But when it’s some of our ain folk in the dock? That’s when the mealy-mouthed equivocation and obfuscation begins.
Ah, are you sure you heard right, son? I mean, you could be mistaken. And it’s a pretty serious allegation. Very serious. Come to think of it, how dare you make such a terrible accusation against good, honest, decent Scottish fans…
Just like that, the victim becomes the accused. The offenders scurry away under cover of their club or country’s inability to believe that even one of their followers could be guilty.
And all the fine words of a wellmeaning general populace are reduced to insincere tokens of
Where would the authorities stand if Fuchs were to be vindicated?
good intent. Gestures of zero value to those still on the sharp end of abuse that has no place in even the most impolite corners of footballing society.
First, let’s accept that none of us have all the facts about the incident involving Ross County supporters and Jeando Fuchs at Tannadice. But Dundee United are convinced that their midfielder was racially abused.
And, regardless of what a very quick on-the-spot investigation may have concluded, that cannot be the end of the matter.
Whatever the SPFL delegate does or doesn’t include in their official report, a full and thorough investigation is the least Fuchs is owed.
Rushing to judgment on the basis of a quick chat with stewards feels a lot like sweeping the issue under the carpet.
Given the lack of definitive action in some of the other racism incidents reported to the authorities already this season, that would be unacceptable.
If no proof of an offence is found, the league can apologise to County for any inconvenience caused. While trusting they understand the need for strict vigilance.
But what happens if Fuchs is vindicated? Where would the authorities stand, for instance, if an eye witness from the away end stepped forward to corroborate the accusation?
Clearly nobody at County considered this possibility when they issued that scattergun, hare-brained, hard-to-believe statement in the wake of Saturday’s loss on Tayside.
Did Staggies chief executive Steven Ferguson even think twice before impugning the motives of United boss Tam Courts in doing the right thing when he held up a Show Racism the Red Card T-shirt — showing precisely the kind of support that players from black and ethnic minorities have been seeking for years?
Everyone says they want head coaches to demonstrate leadership on this issue. To treat the matter seriously and stand by those subjected to racist abuse.
But when Courts sticks his head above the parapet, County manager Malky Mackay starts slinging around insinuations about the ‘premeditated’ response of his opposite number.
Seriously, Malky? In case you didn’t get the memo, Courts had a Show Racism the Red Card T-shirt to hand because October is their Month of Action across Scottish football. Quite.
As for the idea mooted by County that the rookie gaffer had somehow ‘incited risk’ to travelling fans by displaying that T-shirt to all four stands — not just the away end — in a post-match show of solidarity with Fuchs, well, that’s a very ugly sort of counter-claim to make.
It smacked of petulance, denial and the kind of high-handed, ultra-defensive indignation familiar to anyone who ever lodged a serious complaint of discrimination.
It also provided us with a prime example of how football’s deep attachment to tribalism undermines all attempts to apply common standards across the game.
The very nature of rallying round team colours dictates that, for too many involved, supporters of another team may well be racist. But ours are either misheard or misunderstood. Your lot are bigots. We’re just cheeky. Or political.
This kind of cognitive dissonance is everywhere in football. Events of the last couple of days demonstrate that rather neatly.
Surely we all bristled with fury when the Czech Foreign Minister had the gall to demand a public apology from the SFA, simply because Marvin Bartley called out the obviously racist targeting of Glen Kamara in Prague.
Ah, those terrible Czech fans. Why can’t they just admit they have a racism problem? How embarrassing.
Nobody’s suggesting that Scotland is cursed on quite the same scale as certain other countries. But we have our moments. And this feels like one of them.
After all, it’s not as if racists wander around wearing name tapes proudly announcing their prejudices.
They could be the guy who sits next to you at home games. Or the funny bloke on the supporters’ bus who always makes the away trips such a laugh, even if a few of his jokes couldn’t be told in ‘mixed company’.
Racism is racism. And allegations deserve to be treated with the same level of credulity across the board.
Even, or perhaps especially, if it makes us feel uncomfortable.