Racism in football - Will it ever end ?

[RailwayRowdy]

Following the incidents in Sofia tonight, I wonder what people’s views are on this whole sorry, sordid situation ?

Ex pro’s are calling for Bulgaria’s expulsion from qualification tournaments, but if they are to be expelled then surely other countries with “history” such as the other Balkan states especially should also be treated in the same manner. And not forgetting one of Europe’s powerhouse footballing nations Spain, who are hardly the squeakiest of clean in these matters. 

Something meaningful now has to be done, but I doubt that UEFA  have the balls to place the ultimate sanction on these countries.

Clearly their current en passé is not working, so what will work and what actually can and, more importantly, should be done that will stop this disgraceful behaviour ? 
 

 

 

[Aussie Rules]

5 hours ago, RailwayRowdy said:

Following the incidents in Sofia tonight, I wonder what people’s views are on this whole sorry, sordid situation ?

Ex pro’s are calling for Bulgaria’s expulsion from qualification tournaments, but if they are to be expelled then surely other countries with “history” such as the other Balkan states especially should also be treated in the same manner. And not forgetting one of Europe’s powerhouse footballing nations Spain, who are hardly the squeakiest of clean in these matters. 

Something meaningful now has to be done, but I doubt that UEFA  have the balls to place the ultimate sanction on these countries.

Clearly their current en passé is not working, so what will work and what actually can and, more importantly, should be done that will stop this disgraceful behaviour ? 
 

 

 

Sadly RR the short answer, in my opinion, is no.

Whether in the Balkans, the African Continent, or anywhere else in the world it's too simplistic a label.

Even in Australia, said to be comfortable with its culture mix, I've seen spectator violence labelled racist when attending soccer matches. But was it?

My take on it was a range of anger that pitted religion against religion, culture against culture, State (Shire) against State, even families against families. It's akin to civil war.

For me it's raw violence by any other name, but in the modern game of 'Greed is Good' I doubt the powers that be have the fortitude to do anything about it. 

 

[geosname]

If racism was confined to football it would be a much simpler matter to deal with.

Hitting the club's may reduce the visible presence but won't kill the root.

[Jacko51]

1 hour ago, Nofinikea said:

No.  We are surrounded by racists in every day life.  It's not just a football problem. 

This is sadly true.  I bet we have all seen incidents of racism both inside and outside football grounds in this country.  It may be more prevalent in other parts of Europe but we are far from squeaky clean in this matter. 

[For Us All]

The Bulgarian manager is in denial and never heard a thing?

This is what we are up against.

[saintvaliant]

I’ve never experienced an “atmosphere” like last nights before at a game or in wider society. It was disgusting.

English football and society is far from immune from the issue of racism but last night was on a scale that was staggering to both hear and see. I thought the response from the England players was first class - they raised the issue the right way and let their football do their talking.

The escalation has to be banning countries from tournaments and qualifying campaigns. Shutting off sections and displaying banners serves no purpose - as demonstrated last night - and the footballing authorities in these countries are living in denial - again demonstrated last night.

[mr.hobblesworth]

2 hours ago, Jacko51 said:

This is sadly true.  I bet we have all seen incidents of racism both inside and outside football grounds in this country.  It may be more prevalent in other parts of Europe but we are far from squeaky clean in this matter. 

Indeed. The racists at the Hartlepool/ Dover match a few weeks ago (for example) also nearly resulted in players leaving the pitch and I think we need to keep this in mind when (correctly) denouncing those shithouses in Bulgaria last night.

[geosname]

2 hours ago, saintvaliant said:

I’ve never experienced an “atmosphere” like last nights before at a game or in wider society. It was disgusting.

English football and society is far from immune from the issue of racism but last night was on a scale that was staggering to both hear and see. I thought the response from the England players was first class - they raised the issue the right way and let their football do their talking.

The escalation has to be banning countries from tournaments and qualifying campaigns. Shutting off sections and displaying banners serves no purpose - as demonstrated last night - and the footballing authorities in these countries are living in denial - again demonstrated last night.

Spread 5,000 racists across a large city and they will go relatively unnoticed,  put 500 together in a football stadium and they are unmissable.

I don't think just banning one team would be effective, how long would it be before one teams supporters turned up at another teams game wearing the appropriate identifiers to get them banned?

I would suggest something slightly different, probably harsher, after an incident make all teams in the competition play behind closed doors, no tv no press coverage except the result.

[TJHValiant]

Sadly not. Go to a Roy Chubby Brown gig and he comes out with all kinds of racist slurs, yet people still find him hilarious and will happily pay to see his shows at the Victoria Hall. 

Yet people say, oh old chubby isn’t racist, despite numerous uses of the “N” word and derogatory jokes. 

All of this moralizing, yet thousands are happy to pay to watch racism as a form of entertainment in this country. 

[Davebrad]

3 hours ago, mr.hobblesworth said:

Indeed. The racists at the Hartlepool/ Dover match a few weeks ago (for example) also nearly resulted in players leaving the pitch and I think we need to keep this in mind when (correctly) denouncing those shithouses in Bulgaria last night.

totally agree, but the authorities have got to do more but also be seen to do more realistically, its no use fining the club/country  £20-30,000, when they fined Bendtner £100k and banned him for 1 match, for showing a bookmakers logo on his u/pants. A player only gets a yellow for removing his shirt, Also recently some of the Turkish players were seen saluting after scoring a goal in support of the military action in Syria, we will have to see what happens to them, after all we were told not to wear a poppy back in 2016 because it was  political...

[For Us All]

UEFA's slogan "Kick Racism Out" needs to be addressed if they are to be taken seriously.

 

[Houston Valiant]

3 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

Sadly not. Go to a Roy Chubby Brown gig and he comes out with all kinds of racist slurs, yet people still find him hilarious and will happily pay to see his shows at the Victoria Hall. 

Yet people say, oh old chubby isn’t racist, despite numerous uses of the “N” word and derogatory jokes. 

All of this moralizing, yet thousands are happy to pay to watch racism as a form of entertainment in this country. 

The N word  is used by many black people in America, when talking to another black person. Why is that not racist? Oprah Winfrey said it best. She said that the N word was the last thing that many  black people heard right before they were hung for just being black. Yet , Hip Hop is full of it. Chapelle too, but where’s the line between comedy and real life? He’s a very funny man though, and he makes great points about  America. 

 

 

[Davebrad]

3 minutes ago, Houston Valiant said:

The N word  is used by many black people in America, when talking to another black person. Why is that not racist? Oprah Winfrey said it best. She said that the N word was the last thing that many  black people heard right before they were hung for just being black. Yet , Hip Hop is full of it. Chapelle too, but where’s the line between comedy and real life? He’s a very funny man though, and he makes great points about  America. 

  I think it comes down to how its said or expressed. ie Jim Davidson and "chalky", which makes you laugh, as do " jock, taffy, murphy, honky jokes, because we can laugh at ourselves... the racist comes in when its said with hate.

 

 

[Howjy04]

I sat with my mate (Jamaican) watching the second half last night.I had just taken his sons and my grandson to cricket coaching.He told me what had happened.I just turned to him and said,” One day soon this crap will disappear,ours kids and grandkids will make sure of it”.I look with pride at my grandson,he hasn’t got a racist bone in his 11 year old body.His two mates knew what racism meant.Education and protection from it is down to parents and grandparents.Those lowlifes last night deserved one thing.A flamethrower.

[jeffers]

9 hours ago, For Us All said:

The Bulgarian manager is in denial and never heard a thing?

This is what we are up against.

The Bulgarian manager should be asked to explain his comments. Not only were the racist comments clearly heard, the big screens were showing the hooded jobs and you didn’t need to be an expert lip reader. It’s people like him that should be standing against these ignorant half wits, not hiding from the obvious.