Racism in football

Whenever you mention English football fans many people automatically think: hooligans. Every time there is an international tournament in which England are involved a lot of attention is focused on the mayhem English fans have caused. Many times when English clubs play in Europe the police use the fans of the English clubs as target practice.

England has strict laws covering all forms of hooliganism, and to a large extent it works. (Of course there will always be some violence related to football on this side of the world.) As regular readers of this blog would know I regularly go to matches at Anfield and I also worked at MCFC on match days for four very entertaining years. I have never ever heard any racist abuse at Anfield. I am not saying there are no racists. But if you are caught at Anfield or any other club in England, you are banned from the club. FOR LIFE. On top of that you get dragged in front of a court of law and you will get a criminal record. If you are caught engaging in hooligan activity you are banned from your club FOR LIFE, you get a criminal record, and you have to report to a police station and hand in your passport every time your club or the national team plays abroad to ensure you do not travel to foreign games. In fact one way to spot a group of hooligans on match days is that none of them will be wearing anything with club colours. No replica kits, not even a scarf. If they caught they do not want the police to know which club to ban them from. So if you want to avoid trouble wear your club’s brightest replica kit, no self respecting thug will touch you.

Now compare this with other parts of Europe where the far right groups not only control many clubs’ fan base, but actually control access to certain areas of the stadium and have the power to stop matches.

Italy: At Lazio thugs were able to put up a 50 foot banner that had written on it an insult to the opposing team that said “team of niggers, terraces of Jews” (link opens a pdf doc).

Earlier this season in a match between Messina and Inter in Sicily, Marc Zoro picked up the ball and walked off the pitch in protest at the monkey chants spewed at him by savage Inter fans. “I was fed up with it,” explained the 21-year-old Ivorian. “It was the classic treatment of black players in Italy - it happens all over the country, Lazio fans being the worst,” he continued, many of his team mates supporter him and apologised on behalf of the club one team mate Materazzi shouted ’stop that, Zoro, you’re just trying to make a name for yourself’.” Zoro’s response, “I didn’t even argue with him, I’ve no intention of lowering myself to that level.”

Spain: On Sunday Barcelona’s Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o was subjected to racist abuse from Racing Santander fans again. In February Eto’o tried to leave the pitch after being racially abused by Real Zaragoza fans but was convinced by his team-mates to play on.

Bulgaria: Levski Sofia fans booed and whistled visiting Ghanaian born German player Gerald Asamoah before and during their game which FC Schalke.

There are many many examples of racism in football and the fines the European federations and UEFA hand out are ridiculous. Racing Santander and Real Zaragoza were fined 9,000 Euros and 6,000 Euros respectively by the Spanish Football Federation. This in an era where clubs pay many players 60,000 Euros a week.

So when The Africa Council, a group of African immigrants based in Berlin, announced plans to publish a guide warning about areas where there have been racist attacks you can not dismiss them lightly. “Dark-skinned Africans are attacked and insulted every day in Germany,” said Moctar Kamara, head of the “Africa Council”. The pamphlet warns of zones to avoid.