The FA are just as guilty of this, with a classic example being when Everton‘s Lescott and Howard claimed to have heard Newcastle player Emre using the N word towards Joseph Yobo; yet after complaining to the FA they stated they felt just as on trial as Emre was, and that the whole process left them ‘thoroughly disillusioned’ (Guardian).
Such a reaction by the FA and the way the complaining party is made out the be lying is something that cannot be allowed to continue, as this will prevent players from coming forward, and leave them thinking ‘what is the point?’ It also gives the impression to offending players that they are able to say such comments and face little or no sanctions.
A point to ponder is that of Carlos Tevez‘ rumoured lawsuit for defamation of character against manager Roberto Mancini. Should the player proceed and win, thus setting a very dangerous precedent, players accused of racism could easily then launch a counter complaint and possible lawsuit citing that the accusing player is guilty of defamation of character. This, coupled with the FA’s seeming reluctance to find players accused of such slurs guilty, could well see the increase of racially abusive comments and in turn players refusing to make complaints about them.
This is something that cannot be allowed to happen, and despite massive efforts being made with the ‘kick it out’ and ‘show racism the red card’ campaigns, more could be done, especially with regards to insults from fellow players. As Robert Earnshaw said, the maximum punishment possible should be thrown at the offending player, as racial abuse between players is as ‘bad as any offence in the game’.
Yes it is true that efforts have been made, and successfully in some cases to eradicate racial abuse from the game, especially in English football, but further effort is needed. From a continental perspective, a great deal more needs to be done, not only with regards to insults between players, but chanting from crowds during games.
The only solution is for FIFA, UEFA and the Football Associations of individual countries to clamp down as hard as humanly possible on such allegations, and continue the work being done with ‘kick it out’ and similar campaigns, and should individual players be found guilty of slurs of a racist connotation, lengthy bans, stripped captaincies and hefty fines should be incurred. The possibility of points deductions should not be ruled out either. Only then can we being to truly eradicate such disgraceful behaviour from the game.
Written by Rebecca Knight for FootballFancast.com.
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