For many years now the powers that be who run football have buried their heads in the sand on the issue of race. This was clearly emphasised by Sepp Blatter last week who announced to the world that football "...does not have a race problem."
It would be very easy (and tempting) to turn this entry into an analysis of Blatter and his ever growing collection of faux pas but the real issue at hand is racism - and not just in football. As the national pastime of many countries around the globe, football merely provides a platform for racism to rear its ugly head.
Many had hoped that the problems of the 1970s and - worse still - the 1980s had been consigned to the past but sadly this is not the case. Despite the best efforts of many organisations involved in the sport such as the English FA, FIFA & UEFA to name a few, racism is still part and parcel of the game according to former footballers Mark Bright and John Barnes.
The evidence is there to back up the claims. One only has to cast their mind back a few years to recall the monkey noises directed at England players during an international in Spain and, more recently, in Bulgaria. However such incidents happen all around the world from Australia to China, South Africa to Canada. If you want to see the extent to which racism affects football read the Wikipedia entry entitled "Racism in association football". This provides scores of examples affecting all races of people and also various links to further incidents within each continent.
So what does FIFA do when these incidents occur? Once proven associations are usually fined. Indeed Bulgaria (for the incident mentioned above) received a fine of 40,000 euros or £34, 250 - twice as much as Croatia in 2008 for their targeting of Emile Heskey.
But here lies the problem. Fining an FA for the behaviour of their fans is futile. Fining a club for the behaviour of their fans, equally so. The problem of racism, or indeed any discrimination, is society's problem not just football. Harry Redknapp, speaking after Jason Euell was abused during a League Cup tie in 2009 said "That is disgusting – there's no place for that in the game. Surely we can't have that sort of behaviour now? Anyone who does it should be put in prison – not banned from football." He too hints that the problem is far bigger than one for FIFA to solve.
Discrimination comes from ignorance. As a school teacher (indeed one who teaches Citizenship) I must say i am worried for society in relation to this problem. Citizenship, as a subject, has been taught now for over a decade in some parts of the United Kingdom and has confronted many of these issues head on. Despite this the problem remains.
The dangers of discrimination are clear for all to see. The genocide of the Jewish Holocaust highlight how hatred of one another can drive humanity to the brink of destruction. Even so, over 50 years since the UN Declaration of Human Rights, mankind has still not learnt to live together peacefully and equally.
The words of Blatter combined with the alleged actions of John Terry and Luis Suarez have merely brought the issue back into focus with the footballing community.
But do you agree that the problem, & it's solution, lie within society itself?
(PART 2 - MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON RACISM & POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS)
