Soccer is “The Global Game.” It is played by 250 million people across 200 countries, making it the world’s most popular sport. Yet, despite the fact that people of all ethnicities seem to love the sport, the game is quickly becoming famous for racism.
In February 2015, a group of Chelsea fans famously chanted racist remarks at a black man trying to enter the subway in Paris. They loudly chanted, “We’re racist and that’s the way we like it” as they forced him out of the car.
As we discussed after watching this egregious event, soccer fans have become infamous for racist and completely inappropriate chants. Well-known players such as Mario Balotelli, Dani Alves, and Samuel Eto’o have been pelted with bananas on the field and subjected to numerous other remarks.
In April 2015, Dutch fans chanted anti-Semitic slogans about the Holocaust during a match between Amsterdam’s Ajax and FC Utrecht. The Utrecht fans often refer to Amsterdam’s fans as “Jews” because of the Jewish community’s historic presence in the city.
The fans chanted “My father was in the commandos, my mother was in the SS, together they burned Jews cause Jews burn the best” and “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” for several minutes.
Although the club has vowed to identify and take action against the guilty fans, many Jewish activists have called for more action. Ronny Naftaniel put the onus on the players themselves, asking, “When will Ajax players walk off the field?” he said. “Take action against anti-Semitism.” In addition, The Foundation Fighting Antisemitism has reportedly filed charges against the club.
It is an open secret that racism runs rampant in soccer stadiums around the world. In response, players have attempted to raise awareness about racism. Sergio Aguero, Alves, and Balotelli began using the hashtags #WeAreAllMonkeys and #SayNoToRacism on Twitter after each was hounded during a game by both opposing and own fans. Afterwards, many other players began posting pictures of themselves eating bananas as well.
Moreover, certain leagues have attempted to combat this racism. For example, FIFA used advertising hoardings in the 12 stadiums at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil to deliver an anti-racism message.
However, Piara Power, the director of these efforts, has accused FIFA of not taking racism seriously enough and failing to take adequate action to limit racism in soccer stadiums. Although he acknowledged that it is difficult for FIFA to identify and punish individual fans, Power definitively stated that FIFA could take more action. In light of the prevalence of recent events, it is clear that he is right not only about FIFA, but other soccer leagues around the world.
As soccer continues to popularize, the governing bodies of its leagues need to prevent these egregious attacks on its players and fans.
Otherwise, it may not be the “Global Game” for much longer.
Racist occurences will continue to be a common thing at soccer matches like in many other areas of our lives. The problem is we fight it superficially and in a very inefficient manner. Putting banners saying ‘say no to racism’ does not even get close to solving the problem. In the photos above, one of the players posing for a photo against racism is Luis Suarez. Suarez in 2011 was fined and banned for 8 weeks after being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra of Manchester United(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Su%C3%A1rez_racial_abuse_incident). Thats one of the problems we have with this campaign against racism, the people who stand in the front line and claim to fight racism are the same people who commit very racist acts in real life.
I think this is a really important issue, Shiv, and I’m glad you posted about it. Racism is something that isn’t openly projected in American sports, which makes it more shocking for us as American fans of European soccer. It is definitely something that needs to be combated, as it taints the image of the beautiful game. Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, has stated that he does want to combat racism, and recently singled out Russia as a country that needs to combat the issue. He pressured Russian President Vladimir Putin to take control of the issue in 2014, which was not effective, and is urging the country to increase its efforts. Athletes like Dani Alves have come out and said that there is no way to stop racism, specifically in the Spanish La Liga, unless drastic measures are taken. One idea that was presented was to deduct points from teams whose fans chanted racist things. This would punish the team for the actions of their fans, which in my opinion would be a good idea. Hopefully someday we won’t have to take drastic measures to prevent racism, but until that day comes, FIFA needs to be persistent in its efforts to end racism in soccer.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/04/390707630/is-fighting-racism-in-soccer-a-lost-cause-fifa-president-says-no
I think its also important to note that while many fans are racist and join the chants, there are more fans that are adamantly against racism. After the Chelsea incident a group of West Ham fans mocked the racist event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILGrNzloMSU