Racism in European Football

[horsechoker]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/51251235

Inaki Williams: Athletic Bilbao forward says he was racially abused against Espanyol


With stories like these becoming more frequent I think it's time to discuss racism across the whole of European football, we've seen incidents at International and national level. Italy and Eastern Europe seem to be rife but other countries seem to be going backwards too. I think it's important that this issue be kept in the spotlight, it's easy to turn a blind eye to racism and pretend it's not there but it won't go away until the authorities come down hard on those who racially abuse others.

 

[Snow]

There's a thread about racism in English football. 2 about racism in Italy and this one that generally goes into what can be done.

 

[horsechoker]

There's a thread about racism in English football. 2 about racism in Italy and this one that generally goes into what can be done.

I looked for a thread where it would be appropriate but I think this has become a European issue. Italy might has had the most high profile incidents and English football is the primary concern of this forum but it's happening in more countries.

 

[Snow]

I looked for a thread where it would be appropriate but I think this has become a European issue. Italy might has had the most high profile incidents and English football is the primary concern of this forum but it's happening in more countries.

Racist have recently become more open which is in line with the politics. It's always been there on the internet along with sexism and homophobia but it has become a bit more blatant again. It's still a minority for the most part.

It's not something you immediately stop. Politicians and media have set the progress back a bit but the solution is still education. If you're racist the most likely reason why you are racist is because you were brought up by a racist but we all know it's set in ignorance and can be fixed.

 

[carvajal]

Like Madrid and Barcelona Espanyol should expel the ultras ("brigadas blanquiazules"), which yesterday were as well involved in a fight with the ultras of Athletic and have several episodes of this style.
That way they could end the problem. Unfortunately I fear that it will not happen unless they are severely fined, which I don't think will happen either.
Here the video of Williams

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[top1whoisman]

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[Peyroteo]

Embarassing. Marega scored a goal, got a chair thrown at him from the stands and then proceeded to get monkey chants every time he touched the ball for 10 minutes. He abandoned the pitch after.

Expecting huge punishment to Vitoria, their fans are great in terms of support but they need to clear out the cnuts from the stands. There are problems pretty much every time one of the big 3 play there, this time it was racism which isn't usual at all but violence is a common occurence there.

 

[arthurka]

Embarassing. Marega scored a goal, got a chair thrown at him from the stands and then proceeded to get monkey chants every time he touched the ball for 10 minutes. He abandoned the pitch after.

Expecting huge punishment to Vitoria, their fans are great in terms of support but they need to clear out the cnuts from the stands. There are problems pretty much every time one of the big 3 play there, this time it was racism which isn't usual at all but violence is a common occurence there.

I hate people.. Only way to tackle this is to abandon the game give 3 points to the team that suffers this and hand out heavy fines and I mean heavy not 1500 €.

 

[top1whoisman]

Fecking hate how fellow players and coaches trying to calm down players who’ve been racially abused, and doing everything they can to make them stay on the pitch. They should support him and follow him to the dressing room as a display of support. I know that in the current climate you can get booked, sent off etc. for that, but nothing will change if there’s no unified walk-outs from players and coaching staffs.

 

[top1whoisman]

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[Vault Dweller]

Fecking hate how fellow players and coaches trying to calm down players who’ve been racially abused, and doing everything they can to make them stay on the pitch. They should support him and follow him to the dressing room as a display of support. I know that in the current climate you can get booked, sent off etc. for that, but nothing will change if there’s no unified walk-outs from players and coaching staffs.

Agreed. The reaction of his teammates was shocking.

 

[hp88]

Embarassing. Marega scored a goal, got a chair thrown at him from the stands and then proceeded to get monkey chants every time he touched the ball for 10 minutes. He abandoned the pitch after.

Expecting huge punishment to Vitoria, their fans are great in terms of support but they need to clear out the cnuts from the stands. There are problems pretty much every time one of the big 3 play there, this time it was racism which isn't usual at all but violence is a common occurence there.

Surrounded by cowards there ! Can't believe they tried to reason with him for so long before allowing him to come off.

 

[psychdelicblues]

Embarassing. Marega scored a goal, got a chair thrown at him from the stands and then proceeded to get monkey chants every time he touched the ball for 10 minutes. He abandoned the pitch after.

Expecting huge punishment to Vitoria, their fans are great in terms of support but they need to clear out the cnuts from the stands. There are problems pretty much every time one of the big 3 play there, this time it was racism which isn't usual at all but violence is a common occurence there.

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[Gringo]

Dark day in Portuguese football. Can't remember something like this happening.

 

[Kostur]

Embarassing. Marega scored a goal, got a chair thrown at him from the stands and then proceeded to get monkey chants every time he touched the ball for 10 minutes. He abandoned the pitch after.

Expecting huge punishment to Vitoria, their fans are great in terms of support but they need to clear out the cnuts from the stands. There are problems pretty much every time one of the big 3 play there, this time it was racism which isn't usual at all but violence is a common occurence there.

Jesus what a fecking shitshow, poor lad.

 

[Arruda]

Dark day in Portuguese football. Can't remember something like this happening.

What I can't remember is this almost unanimous and instantaneous public backlash. Good times.

It has happened many times before.

 

[Buchan]

Marega’s teammates are an absolute disgrace there. Show some backbone and support your buddy. Hopefully the neanderthals involved in the stands are swiftly identified and given stiff sentences.

 

[Adisa]

His teammates trying to stop him are cnuts.

 

[arnie_ni]

Id never play for those "team mates" again

 

[Peyroteo]

Surrounded by cowards there ! Can't believe they tried to reason with him for so long before allowing him to come off.

His teammates trying to stop him are cnuts.

Id never play for those "team mates" again

Emotions got the better of them, this was a huge match for Porto. Vitoria are a nightmare to play against away and with Benfica losing yesterday and Marega being an important player they obviously wanted him on the pitch.

They're not trying to have him staying on the pitch because they don't side with him, they want him there so he can help them win and shut up the fans. Still think it wasn't the best of reactions by the teammates but with context it's not as bad as it might look.

 

[2mufc0]

Otavio is a twat.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Emotions got the better of them, this was a huge match for Porto. Vitoria are a nightmare to play against away and with Benfica losing yesterday and Marega being an important player they obviously wanted him on the pitch.

They're not trying to have him staying on the pitch because they don't side with him, they want him there so he can help them win and shut up the fans. Still think it wasn't the best of reactions by the teammates but with context it's not as bad as it might look.

I think that's what complicates the problem. Football fans and players have been conditioned to accept the abuse that gets aimed at players. A 'just get on with it' mentality.

The authorities need to step in and set a precedence if anything is going to change.

 

[maniak]

Vitória's ultras are trash, they have been for years, so this is not surprising. In fact, several players have complained about them in the past, from the top of my head I remember Nelson Semedo saying he was racially abused.

They have just doubled down on social media, saying they answered racism with racism.

Of course the problem is, to a higher or lower degree, of portuguese football in general, but the White Angels didn't get their reputation out of thin air.

 

[11101]

The difference is that football authorities in Italy and Eastern Europe dont really think it's a problem. The rest of them do but arent prepared to risk the gravy train to do anything about it.

The only thing I think that can really work is for teams to walk off the pitch. Fans will soon stop if they know they'll be blamed by the whole stadium for stopping the game. I'm surprised Porto didnt at least threaten it, and i hope that if it ever happens to any of our black players the whole team would walk off.

 

[Squaaaad]

Meanwhile back home in good old England ...

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-for-action-craig-ramage-max-lowe-kick-it-out

He doesn't sound too dissimilar to some posters on here

 

[Relfy]

It is terrible that there are so many people that act like this and almost more worryingly feel vindicated to do so. Any perpetrators should be given life bans from all football stadia, fined and imprisoned. Giving clubs and/or national football associations minor fines is doing nothing to stop this. Punishments must be severe and consistent across the globe.

 

[Ramos]

Primary responsibility lies with the ref anyway. No question. But if he wasn't planning on stopping the game, his teammates still could have reacted differently. Especially seeing how disgusted he was. He really was absolutely done with it.

I get it though. They're in a tight title race, felt they had the win and probably scared to lose the points if for example they all walked off. But how does this look now? The player who got racially abused essentially subbed himself because he was so sick of it and everyone else continued like nothing happened.

 

[Peyroteo]

Primary responsibility lies with the ref anyway. No question. But if he wasn't planning on stopping the game, his teammates still could have reacted differently. Especially seeing how disgusted he was. He really was absolutely done with it.

I get it though. They're in a tight title race, felt they had the win and probably scared to lose the points if for example they all walked off. But how does this look now? The player who got racially abused essentially subbed himself because he was so sick of it and everyone else continued like nothing happened.

The responsibility should always be on the ref to stop the game, not the players. Porto players walking off the pitch and basically losing the title because of it would have been a stupid solution. If it was a random game without much on the line it would have probably happened but the team shouldn’t have to get weaker because they’re being racially abused.

Stop the game, clear out the stands and continue the game with no fans if that’s what it takes.

 

[Okey]

The thing of carding the player as he walks off. Seriously??? How poorly can a Ref interprete/manage a situation?

 

[Joga Bonito]

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That's amazing.

 

[Ramos]

The responsibility should always be on the ref to stop the game, not the players. Porto players walking off the pitch and basically losing the title because of it would have been a stupid solution. If it was a random game without much on the line it would have probably happened but the team shouldn’t have to get weaker because they’re being racially abused.

Stop the game, clear out the stands and continue the game with no fans if that’s what it takes.

That's pretty much what i was saying, isn't it? It's down to the ref, it's his responsibility. But he didn't stop the game.

What do you do then? Do what they did yesterday and basically have a player sub himself off, the entire farce continuing like nothing happened?

Or have the entire team at least threaten to walk off? Imagine the message (of solidarity) that sends worldwide. Knowing full well what an important game it was.

Again, i'm not judging his teammates. I know what was at stake and realize the difficult situation they were put in. Just not sure this was handled the right way.

 

[Marcelinho87]

The responsibility should always be on the ref to stop the game, not the players. Porto players walking off the pitch and basically losing the title because of it would have been a stupid solution. If it was a random game without much on the line it would have probably happened but the team shouldn’t have to get weaker because they’re being racially abused.

Stop the game, clear out the stands and continue the game with no fans if that’s what it takes.

And then what of the thousands of people you just chucked out who are now angry for various reasons? It's a great idea on paper but it brings with it a whole host of other issues and problems outside in the general public then.

Racism needs stamping out 100% but I see fines and point deductions being the only way. It is incredibly harsh on the club and players but it will hit the fans too.

 

[11101]

The responsibility should always be on the ref to stop the game, not the players. Porto players walking off the pitch and basically losing the title because of it would have been a stupid solution. If it was a random game without much on the line it would have probably happened but the team shouldn’t have to get weaker because they’re being racially abused.

Stop the game, clear out the stands and continue the game with no fans if that’s what it takes.

I disagree. The referees have been put in a very difficult situation by insufficient rules. He can stop the game, but is one man going to call off a game in front of 50,000 fans when he has little more than lip service from the league to protect him? The rules will never been sufficient because the league is more interested in protecting its cash flow i.e the games and the paying fans.

The only way it happens is if teams of real size and profile start walking off and costing the leagues actual money. If we had walked off in the middle of that City game (i know Fred didn't see it at the time) you can be sure the FA would take action. Instead that guy gets a stadium ban, criminal charges are dropped, and for the rest it's like it never happened. The FA weaseled out of doing anything at all as far as i remember.

 

[syrian_scholes]

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Faith in humanity restored!

 

[Peyroteo]

I disagree. The referees have been put in a very difficult situation by insufficient rules. He can stop the game, but is one man going to call off a game in front of 50,000 fans when he has little more than lip service from the league to protect him? The rules will never been sufficient because the league is more interested in protecting its cash flow i.e the games and the paying fans.

The only way it happens is if teams of real size and profile start walking off and costing the leagues actual money. If we had walked off in the middle of that City game (i know Fred didn't see it at the time) you can be sure the FA would take action. Instead that guy gets a stadium ban, criminal charges are dropped, and for the rest it's like it never happened. The FA weaseled out of doing anything at all as far as i remember.

It’s a lot easier to leave the pitch if the team is losing or it’s just a random game though. If there’s 10 minutes left on a big game they’re winning then it becomes a lot tougher and I don’t think it’s right for the players to be put in that position.

 

[RedBanker]

That's amazing.

There is still hope for humanity. Not all of us are vile scum.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

You want it removed from the game? Two words...

Points deductions.

 

[11101]

It’s a lot easier to leave the pitch if the team is losing or it’s just a random game though. If there’s 10 minutes left on a big game they’re winning then it becomes a lot tougher and I don’t think it’s right for the players to be put in that position.

Nothing about it is right. I just don't see the leagues taking it seriously unless it starts to hurt their cash flow, and they're not going to do that themselves.

 

[SportingCP96]

You want it removed from the game? Two words...

Points deductions.

This. I’m talking 10 point deductions. Nothing less! Watch ho quickly those cnuts change there tune.

 

[Arruda]

Again, i'm not judging his teammates. I know what was at stake and realize the difficult situation they were put in. Just not sure this was handled the right way.

Pretty much, but to their credit they didn't insist on that behaviour for long and are certainly among the least to blame for their instinctive reaction... Most high profile situations in the past have went down like that, with Balotelli, Eto'o, etc, all being convinced to stay by teammates, managers, referees, etc.

It's up for the grown men in positions of authority at clubs, League, etc to stamp this out and give the example, you can't demand 20 year old employees that kind of activism. It's great when they do it, but ultimately it should be the clubs to instruct them to show that kind of solidarity in the future.