Authorities as much to blame as the bigots

Premier League and FA are failing in their duty to stand up and speak out against hatred

What does the appalling abuse we saw Raheem Sterling endure at Stamford Bridge, and the alleged events in Budapest last night, tell us about the state of football?

In 1994, I said authorities paid lip service to demands for action, but in reality turned a blind eye to the issue of racism. That was when Kick It Out was just one year old.

After the ugliness at Chelsea last weekend, I said football still lacked authoritative leadership at the top of the game to stand up and speak out against hatred. And those responsible for this failure should carry the can as much as the perpetrators of hate themselves.

Football’s authorities hide behind procedure and behind Kick It Out – an organisation that survives in a year on the amount of money that a top Premier League player takes home in a few days.

As my colleague Troy Townsend answered requests to appear on TV and radio to talk about what happened, the Football Association and the Premier League issued run-of-the-mill statements condemning discrimination but did not take part in any discussions I saw or heard.

Perhaps what should be worrying them is that our media department received almost as many requests from international news organisations as it did from domestic ones. We hear of the Premier League “brand”, but that brand is diminished every time a banana lands on the pitch or a black player is subjected to abuse.

Hatred, as Raheem pointed out, is fuelled by elements of the media and I have written before that we are in danger of driving young talented footballers from the game if we do not address and punish this abuse wherever we find it.

If there is more abuse out there, we need firm leadership and a clear path forward.

We are the first to criticise racist incidents or behaviour in football in other countries. They might be entitled to accuse us of living in a very well-appointed, luxury glass house while throwing stones. But maybe something is changing for the better.

It was nice to see Eden Hazard call out the people who abused Raheem as not real Chelsea fans. Hopefully, Raheem has given confidence to a few more players to speak out and they may be the most influential behaviour changers we have.

As for me, I have the rest of this season as chairman of Kick It Out and I can assure you we will campaign, educate, support and speak out on these issues until the time comes when we are needed no more. The events of the past few weeks show that dream is a long way away.