Racism in Football

[Exiled_red]

Particularly given their stance on drug users previously.

Was that really a moral stand though or just a convenient way to get someone they didn't want out of the club?

On a side note what happened with the 17m euros Mutu was supposed to pay them?

[Liverpel]

From last May:

A football fan has been handed a three-year stadium ban after directing racist abuse at the Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

Stephen Fitzwater was in the Chelsea stand watching the team play Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April when he was heard making a racially offensive comment towards the player.

Other supporters took offence and reported him to a steward and the 55-year-old from Hartland Road in Isleworth, west London, was arrested by Scotland Yard's football intelligence unit.

He admitted racially aggravated abuse at Hendon magistrates court in north-west London on Monday and was given a three-year football banning order preventing him from attending any regulated football match in the UK or abroad, Scotland Yard said.

A Chelsea spokesman said: "Chelsea Football Club and the overwhelming majority of our fans abhor all forms of discrimination and believe they have no place in our club or our communities.

"We will be taking the strongest possible action against this individual, who has received a football banning order along with a lifetime ban from Chelsea Football Club.

"We would like to thank Chelsea fans for reporting this incident and others which occurred during the semi-final, as a result of which a number of persons have been banned for using racial and abusive language."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/02/chelsea-fan-ban-racist-abuse

[Bender]

Ferguson says he is "disappointed" Ferdinand didn't wear a kick it out t-shirt. "He's let us down, we'll deal with it, don't worry." @alistairmagowan 5 minutes ago

RT @BBCSport: Ferguson to BBC: "I'm disappointed with Rio not wearing the t-shirt. It's an embarrassment for me. @BenSmithBBC 10 minutes ago

[Red_Polo]

Ferguson is a ****ing control freak **** then

It's Ferdinand's choice whether he believes in / has faith in KickItOut or not

Ferguson doesn't give a **** about KickItOut, he only cares because of how it looks for his FA pals

[Alex]

Rio made his choice and that's fair enough. But I am uneasy with these players boycotting Kick It out. Bit only because it is a charity. They are doing there best, but they can't sanction players, or really influence clubs. I always see there T-shirts as a message to people, and when players don't do it the message is slightly diminished.

But as I said, it's up to Rio if he wears it or not. Not Fergies.

[Red_Polo]

Charities get things wrong too though, and if people want to choose not to support them on that basis they should be able to. Let's not forget this campaign is also a political tool for the FA and the Premier League. It legitimises the stances of those organisations and vice versa.

[baitman]

wio/jah jah binks will be the new stam and get ****ed off next

[Alex]

Charities get things wrong too though, and if people want to choose not to support them on that basis they should be able to. Let's not forget this campaign is also a political tool for the FA and the Premier League. It legitimises the stances of those organisations and vice versa.

I tend to agree actually. But as there is no other charity doing the same, do you not think that these players should be being pro active with the charity and being vocal as to what they are doing wrong, rather than saying they are unhappy?

[Red_Polo]

I tend to agree actually. But as there is no other charity doing the same, do you not think that these players should be being pro active with the charity and being vocal as to what they are doing wrong, rather than saying they are unhappy?

Possibly. I'm not necessarily saying I'd do the same, more that they should be able to withdraw their support and that doing so can in some circumstances further the cause. Their club managers should have absolutely no say in this matter.

I think it's difficult to judge their actions without knowing the exact ins and outs of what has gone on, whether there has been dialogue and where they intend to go from here.

[Exiled_red]

Rio made his choice and that's fair enough. But I am uneasy with these players boycotting Kick It out. Bit only because it is a charity. They are doing there best, but they can't sanction players, or really influence clubs. I always see there T-shirts as a message to people, and when players don't do it the message is slightly diminished.

But as I said, it's up to Rio if he wears it or not. Not Fergies.

Was Jason Roberts' point that they weren't sanctioning players or that they weren't strong enough in their condemnation of the FA punishments? I had assumed the latter but the more I hear about it the more it seem people were suggesting the former.

[Leyton388]

Good on Rio is what i say. He and his family have seen first hand what a joke Kick it out are. He has also put two fingers up to Bacon face by not wearing it after he called roberts all kinds for saying he wasn't wearing one either.

[Kenneth]

All of this anti-racism stuff, a bit hysterical isn't it?

[rudedog]

Rio made his choice and that's fair enough. But I am uneasy with these players boycotting Kick It out. Bit only because it is a charity. They are doing there best, but they can't sanction players, or really influence clubs. I always see there T-shirts as a message to people, and when players don't do it the message is slightly diminished.

But as I said, it's up to Rio if he wears it or not. Not Fergies.

I don't think this has much to do with the kick it out campaign - I think this is just a way to poke the FA in the eye (in a very high profile way) without actually putting themselves in a position where the FA can do much in response.

[Vermilion]

I thought it was about the lack of a stronger punishment by the fa, and the failure of Kick It Out to make that point publically and forcefully.

Sort of a demonstration against what these players think is a weak stance on Racism from the FA and Kick It Out.

Like how all these clubs and organisations say..Zero Tolerance! then give a player one game more of a ban than if he'd had a straight red.

[rudedog]

Chelsea supporter and head of Football against Racism Piara Powar finally has something to say regarding the Terry case. Considering how quick he was to condemn Suarez and his complete lack of opinion on John Terry, it seems extremely hypocritical of him to accuse the FA of 'lip service'.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/353271/John-Terry-lessons-not-learnt-

The FA have been strongly criticised by the head of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network for their handling of the John Terry racial abuse case.

Piara Powar, executive director of FARE, said the FA had allowed the case to drag on far too long, had not provided enough support to the player abused by Terry, Anton Ferdinand, and had not rebuked England manager Roy Hodgson for making supportive statements about Terry.

Powar said that he understood why Reading striker Jason Roberts is refusing to wear a Kick It Out T-shirt during the anti-racism campaign group’s current week of action but said the player’s anger should be directed at the FA.
Powar said: “What the FA did with Luis Suarez was absolutely the right way to deal with the situation. But with Terry it took too long. “The punishment was inconsistent with the Suarez sanction and the whole mess included inappropriate statements from the England coach, who basically seemed to support him. “But that went without comment or sanction by the FA.”

Powar, saying that the FA should have launched a review, added: “This has highlighted how English football has been tackling racism for a long time, but a lot of it has felt like lip service.

“Football needs to learn lessons, but I have not heard of any wide-ranging review of how can we deal with this better and how to give support to people who have felt the game is not doing enough. On one hand, the FA are giving support to the players racially abused in Serbia, and rightly so, but what about when it happens at home and the perpetrator is the England captain?”
Powar added: “It seems that Kick It Out have respected the FA process but have, in their chairman Herman Ouseley’s words, ‘been screwed’ by it. “I can see where Jason is coming from, but to focus anger on Kick It Out is not going to resolve this. If Kick It Out had not been in existence, then this would be worse.”