Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Football fans and anti-racism

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Football fans and anti-racism

    Feels like we need a thread to look into how much football and various actors around the game are trying to make a difference (and of course in what ways they are failing).

    This was brought home for me through the way that there are clearly (and have always been) vehemently and openly racist groups among fans, and you can see that there is a lot of unreconstructed nasty shit in the world of football fans. My own club is certainly not at the forefront of positive things here, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done. There were people in Wednesday shirts at the anti BLM demos in London in June.

    Which is why this initiative started by a group of prominent Wednesday fans is, to me, so important. Predictably the response on social media has varied from positive to ignorant to vile. Is thjis kind of thing happening elsewhere too. Can football fans make an actual positive difference?


    #2
    I was wondering about starting a racism thread after events in the Slovak league the weekend just gone. I'll post what I was going to say here, even if it is not 100% relevant.

    During the game between the league's bottom two sides, Nitra and Pohronie, visiting midfielder Alieu Fadera was subjected to monkey chants and other abuse by a group of Nitra fans. Gratifyingly, he went on to score the second and clinching goal in his team's 2-0 win. He celebrated with the small group of Pohronie fans, many of whom looked noticeably keen to give him a hug or pat on the back.

    Any suggestion that this was Fadera 'having the last laugh' was rather dispelled by his post-match interview. He looked and sounded devastated. One of the Nitra players also made a good go of speaking out against the racist incidents.

    At least all this was given some coverage in the Slovak media, unlike the group of Slovan Bratislava fans who gave pride of place in the home end to a 'White Lives Matter' banner before their team's game vs Michalovce. My guess is that these fans had seen the stunt at the Man City vs Burnley game and thought, 'great, but we don't need a plane to display our banner, we can just waltz into the ground with it'. And they can. Their club's chief executive has given Nazi salutes in public and their owner controls much of Slovakia's media.

    Something's got to happen. Slovan Bratislava disappearing from the football scene for ever is necessary, but it isn't enough. Pohronie fans' support for Fadera was heartfelt, but isn't enough either.

    Comment


      #3
      Kmotrik (the Slovan chairman) is extremely well connected politically, isn't he?
      Last edited by ursus arctos; 07-07-2020, 16:59.

      Comment


        #4
        Yes. It's father and son, so both are. And both extremely unpleasant as well.

        Comment


          #5
          One in ten games last season had recorded hate crimes.

          https://www.theguardian.com/society/...land-and-wales

          Leeds top, with 52 arrests, then Birmingham 49, and Bolton 45

          Comment


            #6
            Isn't the increase in racist incidents due to the public being less willing to accept racism, a greater understanding of what constitutes racism and improved reporting mechanisms?

            Comment


              #7
              That is alluded to in the article.


              "The increase shown in these statistics is partly down to better recording and awareness, but we have no complacency in stamping out this evil from the game"

              Comment


                #8
                One of the pleasant surprises in watching the football from Belarus was the complete absence of cave dwelling neanderthal's hurling abuse at the African players in the league, unlike some of the other countries in that region. Perhaps there are other priorities in the country though............

                Comment


                  #9
                  Ireland's largest Trade Union SIPTU congratulate Bohemians on their 130th birthday this month, due to the club's and fan's anti racism initiatives.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X