As long as I've been doing this blog, and as long as I've been paying attention to soccer, and all the trouble that surrounds soccer, I have never seen real measures taken against racism.
No one likes that racism is a constant part of soccer, and no one likes that racially charged incidents make the news more than the results of games.
FIFA has consistently made attempts to try and contain racism, which is a daunting task, but the punishments have varied.
Some seem like a slap on the wrist: a fine for the team involved. The police often get involved with the individuals and enforce the law.
Some are more severe: close the stadium for fans of the team, forcing the team to play in an empty arena.
But overall, there hasn't been anything that has really stopped these sort of things from happening, and the teams and international federations have not been able to really do much of anything except lay down punishment when something happens.
It seems like that is changing.
Yes, for the first time in recent memory, FIFA is being more proactive in this field.
First of all, Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, has said recently that he has ideas on how to end the discrimination, saying that one possibility is to "... deduct points, relegate a team [to a lesser division]...The moment we have the courage to do that discrimination will end."
That's a big leap. From fining the team involved to deducting points or relegating them? That's huge.
I like it.
That's what they need. This is something that they need to be willing to do. Come down hard. Encourage the clubs to be proactive as well. Granted, when something happens, clubs are pretty good about it (for example, a Villareal fan threw a banana at Barcelona's Dani Alves, who picked it up and took a bite before proceeding with the game. Villareal banned the man who threw it from their stadium for life as soon as they found who it was), but being proactive to prevent this happening in the first place is worthwhile.
FIFA also is going to start penalizing clubs and federations if they don't take action to fight the racism. For example, FIFA decided in 2013 to make a rule saying that federations could deduct points from clubs for incidents like this. Not a single federation has exercised this rule.
One federation official, from CONCACAF (North and Central America), said he is going to set up a hotline so people can report racial incidents directly and submit evidence.
Italy's federation has started a new anti-racism campaign, which will take off at their international game against England. They have secured former Olympian Fiona May to head the campaign and will have various Italian players as well.
This is good. It's also a promising flip flop from when coaches and officials have said that racism does not exist in soccer. Finally, FIFA and the federations are taking action before anything happens: telling each other to enforce the rules and prevent things from happening.
I know there is no screen you can run beforehand to prevent racists from entering the stadiums. But if they know that if they do something, their team will essentially lose a game, they won't do it.
This is going to help. Maybe we'll start hearing less and less about these racially- charged incidents.
Maybe something will finally change. We're on the right track.
Finally.
CITED
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/04/390707630/is-fighting-racism-in-soccer-a-lost-cause-fifa-president-says-no
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-05/fifa-plans-to-penalize-soccer-federations-for-racism-inaction
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/former-olympian-may-to-front-italian-soccer-s-new-anti-racism-campaign-032915
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
He Said What?
Arrigo Sacchi is a former head coach of the Italian National Soccer Team, as well as former coach of AC Milan, with which he won the European Cup twice, in 1989 and 1990. He is known throughout Europe and Italy as a good coach, and coaches have sought advice from him in the past as to what to do in situations or in times of trouble.
This is a man whose words will regularly be in the news, regardless of what he says. He's one of those people who will always be in a spotlight.
Which begs the question, why would he then go and say THIS:
"I'm certainly not racist, as my past as a coach shows... but after seeing the Viareggio Cup (an Italian Youth squad tournament), I say that there are too many players of color- too many foreigners- even in the academy sides... Italy has no dignity, it has no pride. It's not possible to see squads with 15 foreign players."
Hold on, what?
Have you ever (except for the Russian coach who I talked about a while ago) heard a coach say something like that?
Sacchi has also had multiple black players on his teams in the past, including the teams that won him the trophies he is known for, which he brought up recently in various media outlets when asked about his comments.
Can you imagine Bill Belichick or John Harbaugh saying, "Yeah, there are too many black people on these teams. It's shameful."
No. You can't. That's the difference. This may not be a post racial society here, but we have nothing like what Sacchi said. You run out of things to say and ways to describe it. But based on the way he talks about himself and what he said, there seems little chance that anything will be done, and a very high chance that we'll hear something like this again.
CITED:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/17/football/football-italy-saachi-racism/
http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/129486/Sacchi-sparks-new-racism-storm-for-Italian-soccer.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/ex-italy-and-milan-boss-arrigo-sacchi-denies-racism-claims-1.2106931
This is a man whose words will regularly be in the news, regardless of what he says. He's one of those people who will always be in a spotlight.
Which begs the question, why would he then go and say THIS:
"I'm certainly not racist, as my past as a coach shows... but after seeing the Viareggio Cup (an Italian Youth squad tournament), I say that there are too many players of color- too many foreigners- even in the academy sides... Italy has no dignity, it has no pride. It's not possible to see squads with 15 foreign players."
Hold on, what?
Have you ever (except for the Russian coach who I talked about a while ago) heard a coach say something like that?
Sacchi has also had multiple black players on his teams in the past, including the teams that won him the trophies he is known for, which he brought up recently in various media outlets when asked about his comments.
“I have been misrepresented, do you really think I’m racist?"
Sorry, yes. I do. It's hard to misrepresent when you say there are "too many players of color" in Italian teams. Next quote?
"...I was just saying that I’d watched a match in which there was a team that included four boys of colour."
Well... why is that notable? Why does this need to be pointed out? Sure, if you think of "Italian," you may not think of someone with dark skin, but, I don't see why that needed to be talked about at all.
"My
history speaks for itself, I’ve always trained teams with diverse
players of colour and they won a lot, both at Milan and in Madrid... I
just wanted to underline the fact that we’re losing our national pride
and identity.”
So you have trained teams with diverse players. For one thing, that should show that this isn't an issue, because that's how training a team works. Teams will be diverse. The world is diverse. Why, if you have trained teams with diversity, are you saying that there is a problem with teams with diversity? Secondly, the fact that you have trained teams with diversity doesn't change the fact that what you said was blatantly racist. And, I don't see why that is a matter of Italian pride and identity.
I understand Italy has some issues. Someone I know who has been to Italy several times and knows many Italian people has said "There aren't black people in Italy. There might be one person with dark skin in a class of 30." So clearly there is a sort of "this is different" culture going on there.
But it's also close to Africa. And as I said before, diversity is a thing. The fact that someone who is well regarded in Italian soccer culture, and European soccer culture as a whole at that, is comfortable saying that there are too many colored players in the youth system. It appears that he's afraid of when all these youngsters will grow up and there will be more black players on the field.
It's a problem that is rooted in the culture, which this man coming out and saying what he said can be seen as the issue coming to a very public and noticeable head.
Can you imagine Bill Belichick or John Harbaugh saying, "Yeah, there are too many black people on these teams. It's shameful."
No. You can't. That's the difference. This may not be a post racial society here, but we have nothing like what Sacchi said. You run out of things to say and ways to describe it. But based on the way he talks about himself and what he said, there seems little chance that anything will be done, and a very high chance that we'll hear something like this again.
CITED:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/17/football/football-italy-saachi-racism/
http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/129486/Sacchi-sparks-new-racism-storm-for-Italian-soccer.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/ex-italy-and-milan-boss-arrigo-sacchi-denies-racism-claims-1.2106931
Monday, February 23, 2015
"...And That's The Way We Like It."
Last week, the UEFA Champions League, the most prestigious tournament in club soccer, kicked off its Round of 16, featuring a heavyweight match-up of French Champions Paris Saint- Germain, and British leaders Chelsea. The first leg (they play two games, one in each arena, and go on total goals) was played in Paris, and resulted in a 1-1 draw, as the matchup will return to London next week to see who advances to the quarterfinals.
This is a big-time matchup. It is one of, if not the most significant, games in this year's competition. Chelsea is a club that is favored to win the whole thing, but PSG is one of the most solid, best teams in the world, with arguably the third best player in the world in Zlatan Ibrahimovich. The loser will go home believing they got robbed due to a random drawing and that they should have done better. The winner will continue on their quest for the cup.
Given this, you'd think the talk this week would be about the return leg coming up, its implications, and all the parts of the game that we watch this sport for.
It isn't.
What is in the news, and what has once again plagued the soccer world, is a racial incident.
The scene is the Paris metro. The time, before the game.
The train is packed. A man tries to get on the train, and is forcefully and purposely shoved out and jeered at.
The man is black.
The men in the train start to chant "Chelsea, Chelsea" in British accents, then proceed to chant:
"We're racist, we're racist, we're racist: and that's the way we like it."
The Guardian Wire obtained video of the incident and the chanting, and it is troubling, to say the least.
I have never seen anything like this before. This is astonishing.
These are English "fans" in Paris for a soccer match. And this is what they do. It's not even "on their own turf" in a way. It's hard to comprehend why.
Chelsea released a statement saying “We will support any criminal action against those involved, and should evidence point to involvement of Chelsea season-ticket holders or members, the club will take the strongest possible action against them, including banning orders.”
The club also said, “Such behavior is abhorrent and has no place in football or society.”
So, if it has no place in football or society, as I think we all can agree on...
Then why does it have a place?
That's the burning question here. Why does this happen and is allowed to happen?
This reflects negatively on the club, the country, the actual fans of the team, and soccer fans all over the world. Not every soccer fan is racist. You only hear about the bad parts. But those bad parts are all over the place.
It is looked down upon by everyone. But here we are, finding that “it is outside UEFA’s remit to act” on the situation since it did not occur in the stadium or involve the players.
Oh.
So there will be criminal charges. There will be bans by the city and the club towards these people: Chelsea has banned five people (whose faces all appear in the video and have reportedly been identified by UK police) from the stadium.
So... that's it?
They did this because they had to. They acted rightly. They said the men cannot come to the games. They condemned it swiftly and acted against it, and the police will take care of the rest. Good.
But this extends further than just these men. It's a culture. They think this is okay. No one else does, but week after week and competition after competition, these kind of people show up. And that is an issue that I don't know how to solve.
When I read on Twitter (shameless plug- follow me @PatrickJStoll for sporty things) that Champions League games started again and that Chelsea was playing PSG, among other games, my first reaction was: "Oh, international games! Something is bound to happen that I can write about!"
That should not be my first reaction.
I, a huge soccer fan, who could talk about sports and players and formations and everything for days (try me), first thought of the impending racial incident over the impending heavyweight matchup.
And there it is.
And that's the way they like it.
Feedback, as always, is welcome!
CITED:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/21/football/football-chelsea-racism-storm-london/
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/20/sport/chelsea-football-racism-paris-metro/
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/chelsea-train-chant-were-racist
http://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2015/feb/17/chelsea-fans-prevent-black-man-boarding-paris-metro-video?CMP=embed_video
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/europe/video-shows-chelsea-soccer-fans-in-racist-behavior.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/18/abuse-by-soccer-fans-underscores-games-lingering-racism-problem.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/19/opinion/oneill-soccer-fans-bad-rap/index.html
This is a big-time matchup. It is one of, if not the most significant, games in this year's competition. Chelsea is a club that is favored to win the whole thing, but PSG is one of the most solid, best teams in the world, with arguably the third best player in the world in Zlatan Ibrahimovich. The loser will go home believing they got robbed due to a random drawing and that they should have done better. The winner will continue on their quest for the cup.
Given this, you'd think the talk this week would be about the return leg coming up, its implications, and all the parts of the game that we watch this sport for.
It isn't.
What is in the news, and what has once again plagued the soccer world, is a racial incident.
The scene is the Paris metro. The time, before the game.
The train is packed. A man tries to get on the train, and is forcefully and purposely shoved out and jeered at.
The man is black.
The men in the train start to chant "Chelsea, Chelsea" in British accents, then proceed to chant:
"We're racist, we're racist, we're racist: and that's the way we like it."
The Guardian Wire obtained video of the incident and the chanting, and it is troubling, to say the least.
I have never seen anything like this before. This is astonishing.
These are English "fans" in Paris for a soccer match. And this is what they do. It's not even "on their own turf" in a way. It's hard to comprehend why.
Chelsea released a statement saying “We will support any criminal action against those involved, and should evidence point to involvement of Chelsea season-ticket holders or members, the club will take the strongest possible action against them, including banning orders.”
The club also said, “Such behavior is abhorrent and has no place in football or society.”
So, if it has no place in football or society, as I think we all can agree on...
Then why does it have a place?
That's the burning question here. Why does this happen and is allowed to happen?
This reflects negatively on the club, the country, the actual fans of the team, and soccer fans all over the world. Not every soccer fan is racist. You only hear about the bad parts. But those bad parts are all over the place.
It is looked down upon by everyone. But here we are, finding that “it is outside UEFA’s remit to act” on the situation since it did not occur in the stadium or involve the players.
Oh.
So there will be criminal charges. There will be bans by the city and the club towards these people: Chelsea has banned five people (whose faces all appear in the video and have reportedly been identified by UK police) from the stadium.
So... that's it?
They did this because they had to. They acted rightly. They said the men cannot come to the games. They condemned it swiftly and acted against it, and the police will take care of the rest. Good.
But this extends further than just these men. It's a culture. They think this is okay. No one else does, but week after week and competition after competition, these kind of people show up. And that is an issue that I don't know how to solve.
When I read on Twitter (shameless plug- follow me @PatrickJStoll for sporty things) that Champions League games started again and that Chelsea was playing PSG, among other games, my first reaction was: "Oh, international games! Something is bound to happen that I can write about!"
That should not be my first reaction.
I, a huge soccer fan, who could talk about sports and players and formations and everything for days (try me), first thought of the impending racial incident over the impending heavyweight matchup.
And there it is.
And that's the way they like it.
Feedback, as always, is welcome!
CITED:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/21/football/football-chelsea-racism-storm-london/
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/20/sport/chelsea-football-racism-paris-metro/
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/chelsea-train-chant-were-racist
http://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2015/feb/17/chelsea-fans-prevent-black-man-boarding-paris-metro-video?CMP=embed_video
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/europe/video-shows-chelsea-soccer-fans-in-racist-behavior.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/18/abuse-by-soccer-fans-underscores-games-lingering-racism-problem.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/19/opinion/oneill-soccer-fans-bad-rap/index.html
Monday, November 3, 2014
But Wait: There's More
I think it's safe to say that Russia has, to put it lightly, some issues.
Looking at Russia from a strictly soccer perspective, you have CSKA Moscow, who can't have fans in their next couple European games due to violence and racist banners.
You also have Zenit, a team whose fans published a public letter to the organization saying that they did not want the team to sign a black player, saying "We're not racists, but we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition."
Well, one more thing just got thrown into the mix: a coach saying racist things about his own players.
One team in the Russian Premier League is FC Rostov. The coach, Igor Gamula, was asked this weekend about the possibility of the team signing a certain defender the team has been linked to for a month, and this player happens to be from Cameroon.
In response to this question, Gamula said that the club “enough dark-skinned players, we’ve got six of the things.”
There are no words.
He recently came out and apologized for this absolute gem of a quote, saying:
"I've never divided players into good or bad, foreigners or Russians."
He also said he was "in shock" at the reception his comments had received...
"I was deeply worried and didn't sleep for two days. I hadn't wanted to insult or upset anyone."
I can't.
He apologized here, if you read between the lines in his comments, for people getting mad at what he said. How is he surprised that there was an uproar after he said "we have six of the things?"
Perhaps the best part of this entire situation is this: The man still has his job.
Let me say that again: The man still has his job.
He has not been fired, or at least not yet as of me writing this.
There is a consensus, however, that the players on his team do not want him as coach anymore, and that he should be removed.
The key here is that he hasn't been removed.
Can you imagine if John Harbaugh said that about the Ravens?
He would be fired the next day!
But in this sport, and in that country, all that happens is that people look away. This is also the country that: A) FIFA itself has said has a problem with racism that needs to be fixed, and B) is hosting the next World Cup.
A country where people refer to black people as "things" and say that they don't want them on their team for "tradition" is hosting THE BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL SPORTING EVENT IN THE WORLD.
When FIFA says racism is an issue, and it particularly is in this country, how do you award them the World Cup, and how can coaches in various countries deny that racism is a problem in soccer?
Jose Mourinho, coach of English club Chelsea, former coach of Real Madrid, said early in October: "There is no racism in football."
How can any coach deny this is a problem, when incidents happen every week?
The problem lies in the culture of ignorance and the turning of the cold shoulder: it becomes more and more apparent every week that teams and countries and organizations just want to avoid bad publicity.
FIFA needs to step its game up and actually try to "kick out racism," otherwise they'll just be in an endless cycle of "this isn't a problem" and "we need to stop this."
As usual, thank you for reading, and any feedback is appreciated!
CITED:
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8925707
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/11/01/russian-soccer-coach-says-he-doesnt-need-any-more-black-players-on-his-team-makes-terrible-ebola-joke/
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/10/24/3583668/soccer-governing-bodies-spineless-on-racism-as-russia-world-cup-looms/
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/18/manchester-city-russia-racism-yaya-toure-cska-moscow
Looking at Russia from a strictly soccer perspective, you have CSKA Moscow, who can't have fans in their next couple European games due to violence and racist banners.
You also have Zenit, a team whose fans published a public letter to the organization saying that they did not want the team to sign a black player, saying "We're not racists, but we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition."
Well, one more thing just got thrown into the mix: a coach saying racist things about his own players.
One team in the Russian Premier League is FC Rostov. The coach, Igor Gamula, was asked this weekend about the possibility of the team signing a certain defender the team has been linked to for a month, and this player happens to be from Cameroon.
In response to this question, Gamula said that the club “enough dark-skinned players, we’ve got six of the things.”
There are no words.
He recently came out and apologized for this absolute gem of a quote, saying:
"I've never divided players into good or bad, foreigners or Russians."
He also said he was "in shock" at the reception his comments had received...
"I was deeply worried and didn't sleep for two days. I hadn't wanted to insult or upset anyone."
I can't.
He apologized here, if you read between the lines in his comments, for people getting mad at what he said. How is he surprised that there was an uproar after he said "we have six of the things?"
Perhaps the best part of this entire situation is this: The man still has his job.
Let me say that again: The man still has his job.
He has not been fired, or at least not yet as of me writing this.
There is a consensus, however, that the players on his team do not want him as coach anymore, and that he should be removed.
The key here is that he hasn't been removed.
Can you imagine if John Harbaugh said that about the Ravens?
He would be fired the next day!
But in this sport, and in that country, all that happens is that people look away. This is also the country that: A) FIFA itself has said has a problem with racism that needs to be fixed, and B) is hosting the next World Cup.
A country where people refer to black people as "things" and say that they don't want them on their team for "tradition" is hosting THE BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL SPORTING EVENT IN THE WORLD.
When FIFA says racism is an issue, and it particularly is in this country, how do you award them the World Cup, and how can coaches in various countries deny that racism is a problem in soccer?
Jose Mourinho, coach of English club Chelsea, former coach of Real Madrid, said early in October: "There is no racism in football."
How can any coach deny this is a problem, when incidents happen every week?
The problem lies in the culture of ignorance and the turning of the cold shoulder: it becomes more and more apparent every week that teams and countries and organizations just want to avoid bad publicity.
FIFA needs to step its game up and actually try to "kick out racism," otherwise they'll just be in an endless cycle of "this isn't a problem" and "we need to stop this."
As usual, thank you for reading, and any feedback is appreciated!
CITED:
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8925707
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/11/01/russian-soccer-coach-says-he-doesnt-need-any-more-black-players-on-his-team-makes-terrible-ebola-joke/
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/10/24/3583668/soccer-governing-bodies-spineless-on-racism-as-russia-world-cup-looms/
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/18/manchester-city-russia-racism-yaya-toure-cska-moscow
Monday, October 27, 2014
Want An Update on Serbia-Albania? Of Course You Do!
If you go back one post from this one, you will see a post I made about the Serbia- Albania game that was abandoned after a drone landed on the field with an Albanian flag.
I'd like to ask you as readers to take a minute and just look at that post.
Now, see how I said: "...in the realm of less important things, Serbia simply cannot be awarded a win here. Call it a draw, get apologies for both sides, fine Serbia, and move on."
That is what I thought, in my own humble, unbiased, 100% American opinion, should have been the long term result of this Albania- Serbia game. The Serbian fans went berserk, and caused an unsafe environment for every human being in the stadium.
When the Albanian players left the field for the locker room, they went from being verbally abused, to having things hurled at them, to having to avoid a fight going on in the hallways between more Serbians and security.
Given how the Serbian stadium turned into a giant brawl within 120 seconds of play, I think it would be justified to call it a draw, give Serbia a fine, and basically admit that this match should not have happened.
Well, UEFA, continuing on their streak of making decisions newsworthy, decided that was not the right course.
Yeah, was not.
Do you want to guess what they decided would be done here?
Whatever you guessed, it was probably not correct, given the collection of actions they took makes about no sense and makes nothing right.
Here is the exact wording from UEFA's official website:
"The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) met yesterday and announced the following decision after various incidents that occurred during the European Qualifiers Group I match between Serbia and Albania, which was played in Belgrade on 14 October.
I'd like to ask you as readers to take a minute and just look at that post.
Now, see how I said: "...in the realm of less important things, Serbia simply cannot be awarded a win here. Call it a draw, get apologies for both sides, fine Serbia, and move on."
That is what I thought, in my own humble, unbiased, 100% American opinion, should have been the long term result of this Albania- Serbia game. The Serbian fans went berserk, and caused an unsafe environment for every human being in the stadium.
When the Albanian players left the field for the locker room, they went from being verbally abused, to having things hurled at them, to having to avoid a fight going on in the hallways between more Serbians and security.
Given how the Serbian stadium turned into a giant brawl within 120 seconds of play, I think it would be justified to call it a draw, give Serbia a fine, and basically admit that this match should not have happened.
Well, UEFA, continuing on their streak of making decisions newsworthy, decided that was not the right course.
Yeah, was not.
Do you want to guess what they decided would be done here?
Whatever you guessed, it was probably not correct, given the collection of actions they took makes about no sense and makes nothing right.
Here is the exact wording from UEFA's official website:
"The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) met yesterday and announced the following decision after various incidents that occurred during the European Qualifiers Group I match between Serbia and Albania, which was played in Belgrade on 14 October.
The
CEDB has decided to declare the above-mentioned match as forfeited. As a
consequence, the Football Association of Albania (FShF) is deemed to
have lost the game 3-0. In addition, the FShF has been fined €100,000.
The CEDB has also decided to deduct the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) three points for the current UEFA European Championship qualifying competition. In addition, the FSS has been ordered to play its next two UEFA competition matches as host team behind closed doors. Finally, the association has been fined €100,000.
These decisions are open to appeal."
Pause.
In non-official terms, UEFA just decided to fine BOTH TEAMS €100,000.
They also, in the "what in God's name are you doing" decision of the month, decided that Albania, since their players walked off the pitch when chaos was ensuing throughout the stadium, forfeited the game.
Since Albania walked off, they have, according to all official records from now on, given up and lost this game. This awards Serbia a 3-0 victory.
Keep in mind that this is not a friendly game. This is qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament. It matters.
So then UEFA decided to make things even more strange: they gave Serbia the win, then deducted the points. So Serbia got a mark in the W column, but no points to make a difference. Lastly, UEFA pulled out the last thing they could, saying Serbia must play their next two home games behind closed doors, so with a completely empty stadium.
"But Patrick, if it makes no difference without the points, then why would they award a decision like that at all? Why didn't they just say the game didn't happen or something?"
Good question, reader!
Put simply, it's because UEFA, in my opinion, doesn't know what to do anymore. That, or they aren't caring about the right thing.
They aren't seeing that this is more than soccer. They did not admit a mistake. This is a problem that extends far beyond this game, it's a problem with the system.
Expanding on the decision itself, and the backlash (you knew it was coming) to the decision, the Albanians took about a day to say the decision was a "travesty" and will appeal the decision faster than you can say "remote control drone."
They will also have a case, since as I said before, and as is explained well here, not only did the stadium erupt in fighting, but when the crowd chants something like "kill the Albanians," I think it's safe to get off the field and live to see another day. Literally.
Add that onto the fact that attackers towards the Albanians included fans, stewards, and POLICE, Albania is doing the right thing by saying it was a miracle no one got hurt seriously.
Possibly the best part of this is that Serbia blames Albania for everything, saying this whole thing was an Albanian terrorist plot that the officials and team were in on.
I also want to point out how UEFA has a shortlist of matches that will not be played due to ongoing disputes and conflict between countries.
Gibraltar and Spain have a dispute about sovereignty, so that game isn't going to happen.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a territorial dispute, so that game won't happen either.
"But Patrick, this whole Serbia-Albania-Kosovo thing sounds kind of like a territorial dispute that's still going on..."
EXACTLY.
UEFA has no consistency. They award the home team who, if they had the chance, would have killed the other team, a win; they take away the points for a win from that team; they fine everyone involved; they count the people who ran off the field in fear of their lives as people forfeiting; but the home team also gets a stadium ban.
Oh, and Albania and Serbia still get to play each other one more time.
It is in just under a year (October 8, 2015), but hopefully by then UEFA can get its act together: there is no reason that game should occur.
At all.
Do not play this game.
UEFA has to recognize this is more than soccer. And they have in other situations. But this is a situation where people can die. There's too much going on for this game to happen.
Do NOT. Play this game.
As always, feedback and responses are appreciated!!
CITED:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/24/serbia-albania-euro-2016-uefa-sanctions
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/uefa-serbia-win-albania-points-26419620
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/news/newsid=2172207.html
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/teams/team=147/matches/index.html
The CEDB has also decided to deduct the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) three points for the current UEFA European Championship qualifying competition. In addition, the FSS has been ordered to play its next two UEFA competition matches as host team behind closed doors. Finally, the association has been fined €100,000.
These decisions are open to appeal."
Pause.
In non-official terms, UEFA just decided to fine BOTH TEAMS €100,000.
They also, in the "what in God's name are you doing" decision of the month, decided that Albania, since their players walked off the pitch when chaos was ensuing throughout the stadium, forfeited the game.
Since Albania walked off, they have, according to all official records from now on, given up and lost this game. This awards Serbia a 3-0 victory.
Keep in mind that this is not a friendly game. This is qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament. It matters.
So then UEFA decided to make things even more strange: they gave Serbia the win, then deducted the points. So Serbia got a mark in the W column, but no points to make a difference. Lastly, UEFA pulled out the last thing they could, saying Serbia must play their next two home games behind closed doors, so with a completely empty stadium.
"But Patrick, if it makes no difference without the points, then why would they award a decision like that at all? Why didn't they just say the game didn't happen or something?"
Good question, reader!
Put simply, it's because UEFA, in my opinion, doesn't know what to do anymore. That, or they aren't caring about the right thing.
They aren't seeing that this is more than soccer. They did not admit a mistake. This is a problem that extends far beyond this game, it's a problem with the system.
Expanding on the decision itself, and the backlash (you knew it was coming) to the decision, the Albanians took about a day to say the decision was a "travesty" and will appeal the decision faster than you can say "remote control drone."
They will also have a case, since as I said before, and as is explained well here, not only did the stadium erupt in fighting, but when the crowd chants something like "kill the Albanians," I think it's safe to get off the field and live to see another day. Literally.
Add that onto the fact that attackers towards the Albanians included fans, stewards, and POLICE, Albania is doing the right thing by saying it was a miracle no one got hurt seriously.
Possibly the best part of this is that Serbia blames Albania for everything, saying this whole thing was an Albanian terrorist plot that the officials and team were in on.
I also want to point out how UEFA has a shortlist of matches that will not be played due to ongoing disputes and conflict between countries.
Gibraltar and Spain have a dispute about sovereignty, so that game isn't going to happen.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a territorial dispute, so that game won't happen either.
"But Patrick, this whole Serbia-Albania-Kosovo thing sounds kind of like a territorial dispute that's still going on..."
EXACTLY.
UEFA has no consistency. They award the home team who, if they had the chance, would have killed the other team, a win; they take away the points for a win from that team; they fine everyone involved; they count the people who ran off the field in fear of their lives as people forfeiting; but the home team also gets a stadium ban.
Oh, and Albania and Serbia still get to play each other one more time.
It is in just under a year (October 8, 2015), but hopefully by then UEFA can get its act together: there is no reason that game should occur.
At all.
Do not play this game.
UEFA has to recognize this is more than soccer. And they have in other situations. But this is a situation where people can die. There's too much going on for this game to happen.
Do NOT. Play this game.
As always, feedback and responses are appreciated!!
CITED:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/24/serbia-albania-euro-2016-uefa-sanctions
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/uefa-serbia-win-albania-points-26419620
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/news/newsid=2172207.html
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/teams/team=147/matches/index.html
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
It Gets Dicey Out There
This past weekend, club teams have been on break in favor of international friendly matches. At least, they were friendly in parts of the world. In Europe, international squads have already started playing games that matter: qualifying group games for the Euro 2016 (Think World Cup, but just European teams).
One of the matches that was played over the weekend involved two teams that people probably don't pay attention to unless you live there. This match was Serbia against Albania in Serbia. Now you see what I mean? It's not a heavyweight matchup or anything, but these are two countries mean a lot to each other.
Evidently, they hate each other.
Serbia and Albania have had international conflict since the Yogoslavian wars and one of the key disagreements was when Albania decided to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation, while Serbia criticized Albania for instigating conflict and not recognizing national borders.
Albania also lead an uprising against the Serbs behind Isa Boljetini in 1912 which led them to become an independent nation.
So there has been a decent amount of unrest between these two, and Albania's team had not visited the Serbia stadium for a game in decades.
Like, since 1967.
So nothing could go wrong in a qualifier soccer game right?
...Right?
Well, nothing exactly went wrong for the first 40 minutes of the game. Sure, there was extra security and a lot of flares going off, so it wasn't a safe situation, but nothing drastic happened.
Then, in the 41st minute, a flare was thrown on the field, so the game was stopped to clear it.
Then, a mini- drone appeared flying over the stadium, hanging an Albanian flag beneath it.
It approached the ground, and as the flag came down, a Serbian player grabbed it.
...And proceeded to be attacked by multiple Albanian players, starting an inter-team brawl in the middle of the field.
It gets worse.
The refs decided the game should be paused, and stopped the clock, just in time for supporters in the stands to get in fights with a) each other and b) the security at the game.
Multiple supporters of either side stormed the field and fought there.
Then the refs decided that, to the surprise of no one, the game was...
Wait for it...
...Not safe to continue.
...So they cancelled the rest of the game.
As Albanian players ran off the field they were pelted by anything the Serbian supporters could find.
Then the Serbian players were harassed by any Albanian supporters that weren't actively in a brawl.
Serbia is making the case to UEFA that they should be awarded a 3-0 win by forfeit, while UEFA is determining whether the game should be played again.
Now, I'm not sure if it's just me, but this is not a game that needs to be played. No one wants to see each other after this. It's not safe to try this again, especially if for some reason they allow it to be played in Belgrade again.
However, in the realm of less important things, Serbia simply cannot be awarded a win here. Call it a draw, get apologies for both sides, fine Serbia, and move on.
This is just another example that, believe it or not, politics, unrest, and racism/ radicalism make their way into soccer more than any other sport.
And it shows.
The game was tense before anything happened. This really isn't a game that should even be scheduled. The higher powers need to recognize here that if there is tension between nations, it shouldn't be played.
I'm not talking Germany and Poland, that game was played without a problem.
I'm thinking if somehow Russia and Ukraine were scheduled to play. That would be asking for trouble. And UEFA needs to realize that there is more here than just soccer: they try to say they know that, but they don't show they recognize it.
It gets dicey out there.
One of the matches that was played over the weekend involved two teams that people probably don't pay attention to unless you live there. This match was Serbia against Albania in Serbia. Now you see what I mean? It's not a heavyweight matchup or anything, but these are two countries mean a lot to each other.
Evidently, they hate each other.
Serbia and Albania have had international conflict since the Yogoslavian wars and one of the key disagreements was when Albania decided to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation, while Serbia criticized Albania for instigating conflict and not recognizing national borders.
Albania also lead an uprising against the Serbs behind Isa Boljetini in 1912 which led them to become an independent nation.
So there has been a decent amount of unrest between these two, and Albania's team had not visited the Serbia stadium for a game in decades.
Like, since 1967.
So nothing could go wrong in a qualifier soccer game right?
...Right?
Well, nothing exactly went wrong for the first 40 minutes of the game. Sure, there was extra security and a lot of flares going off, so it wasn't a safe situation, but nothing drastic happened.
Then, in the 41st minute, a flare was thrown on the field, so the game was stopped to clear it.
Then, a mini- drone appeared flying over the stadium, hanging an Albanian flag beneath it.
It approached the ground, and as the flag came down, a Serbian player grabbed it.
...And proceeded to be attacked by multiple Albanian players, starting an inter-team brawl in the middle of the field.
It gets worse.
The refs decided the game should be paused, and stopped the clock, just in time for supporters in the stands to get in fights with a) each other and b) the security at the game.
Multiple supporters of either side stormed the field and fought there.
Then the refs decided that, to the surprise of no one, the game was...
Wait for it...
...Not safe to continue.
...So they cancelled the rest of the game.
As Albanian players ran off the field they were pelted by anything the Serbian supporters could find.
Then the Serbian players were harassed by any Albanian supporters that weren't actively in a brawl.
Serbia is making the case to UEFA that they should be awarded a 3-0 win by forfeit, while UEFA is determining whether the game should be played again.
Now, I'm not sure if it's just me, but this is not a game that needs to be played. No one wants to see each other after this. It's not safe to try this again, especially if for some reason they allow it to be played in Belgrade again.
However, in the realm of less important things, Serbia simply cannot be awarded a win here. Call it a draw, get apologies for both sides, fine Serbia, and move on.
This is just another example that, believe it or not, politics, unrest, and racism/ radicalism make their way into soccer more than any other sport.
And it shows.
The game was tense before anything happened. This really isn't a game that should even be scheduled. The higher powers need to recognize here that if there is tension between nations, it shouldn't be played.
I'm not talking Germany and Poland, that game was played without a problem.
I'm thinking if somehow Russia and Ukraine were scheduled to play. That would be asking for trouble. And UEFA needs to realize that there is more here than just soccer: they try to say they know that, but they don't show they recognize it.
It gets dicey out there.
Monday, October 6, 2014
You Only Hear About The Worst
Has anyone heard of the club CSKA Moscow? Unless you're either Russian or a soccer fan, you probably haven't, and that's really no big deal. I want you to take 60 seconds and Google News "CSKA" real quick.
If you see the same results I'm seeing, the entire page is filled with news about a stadium ban, fans, and a Champions League game. Here's what happened:
CSKA Moscow, as you probably picked up on, is a Russian team based in Moscow. They are one of the best Russian teams, and make it into the Champions League every year. They were put into a group (of death) with Manchester City from England, Bayern Munich from Germany, and Roma, from Italy. They played their second group stage game (each team plays each other twice) in Russia against Bayern last Tuesday, the 30th.
They played in an empty stadium.
CSKA played their first game in Rome, and lost 5-1. The result was big, but it was unfortunately marred by the actions of the CSKA fans.
The away CSKA fans.
Roma is not a club whose fans are known to be peaceful, as there have been multiple incidents of violence in Rome. However, this incident is the CSKA fans'.
Last year, Manchester City played in Russia, against the same team, and their star midfielder Yaya Toure was racially abused the entire game with monkey chants. UEFA hit CSKA with a fine and a stadium ban that is taking affect this year on a home game.
It started when Roma scored, and CSKA fans threw 10 flares at once over at the Roma fans. The fans were separated by a perspex barrier and stadium guards on each side. When the Roma fans threw the flares back, the CSKA fans charged the stewards and started a fight. Then riot police were called in, and the fans picked fights with them too.
They also showed "far-right" banners in their section of the stadium, another word for neo-facist and racist.
I found a link that gives a good depiction of what happened that day at the stadium - http://tinyurl.com/kxoqd7w - which shows mobs of these away fans fighting anyone they see, such as police, stewards, and opposing fans.
The combination of the ridiculous behavior by their fans in this game and the ridiculous behavior of their fans last year resulted in UEFA essentially saying "we've had enough of you," and banning CSKA from selling tickets to fans to the rest of their away games, along with a $268,000 fine, and, the kicker (no pun intended), the rest of their home games will be in empty stadiums.
This is the most extreme use of power by UEFA as of yet, but it is the only thing to do. The shameful thing is that it took riots inside an away stadium against police for UEFA to actually do this. This is something UEFA needs to do more often, because news of racist chants and hooliganism getting out of hand is getting closer and closer together, and more and more severe.
Soccer as a sport needs to get this together, and as hard as it may be, get this under control. It isn't good for anyone for a team to play in an empty stadium, but what choice do you have when the team's fans are so awful?
It's a disappointment to the sport that they need to resort to this, but they need to use this power more often so that this problem dissipates.
If you see the same results I'm seeing, the entire page is filled with news about a stadium ban, fans, and a Champions League game. Here's what happened:
CSKA Moscow, as you probably picked up on, is a Russian team based in Moscow. They are one of the best Russian teams, and make it into the Champions League every year. They were put into a group (of death) with Manchester City from England, Bayern Munich from Germany, and Roma, from Italy. They played their second group stage game (each team plays each other twice) in Russia against Bayern last Tuesday, the 30th.
They played in an empty stadium.
CSKA played their first game in Rome, and lost 5-1. The result was big, but it was unfortunately marred by the actions of the CSKA fans.
The away CSKA fans.
Roma is not a club whose fans are known to be peaceful, as there have been multiple incidents of violence in Rome. However, this incident is the CSKA fans'.
Last year, Manchester City played in Russia, against the same team, and their star midfielder Yaya Toure was racially abused the entire game with monkey chants. UEFA hit CSKA with a fine and a stadium ban that is taking affect this year on a home game.
It started when Roma scored, and CSKA fans threw 10 flares at once over at the Roma fans. The fans were separated by a perspex barrier and stadium guards on each side. When the Roma fans threw the flares back, the CSKA fans charged the stewards and started a fight. Then riot police were called in, and the fans picked fights with them too.
They also showed "far-right" banners in their section of the stadium, another word for neo-facist and racist.
I found a link that gives a good depiction of what happened that day at the stadium - http://tinyurl.com/kxoqd7w - which shows mobs of these away fans fighting anyone they see, such as police, stewards, and opposing fans.
The combination of the ridiculous behavior by their fans in this game and the ridiculous behavior of their fans last year resulted in UEFA essentially saying "we've had enough of you," and banning CSKA from selling tickets to fans to the rest of their away games, along with a $268,000 fine, and, the kicker (no pun intended), the rest of their home games will be in empty stadiums.
This is the most extreme use of power by UEFA as of yet, but it is the only thing to do. The shameful thing is that it took riots inside an away stadium against police for UEFA to actually do this. This is something UEFA needs to do more often, because news of racist chants and hooliganism getting out of hand is getting closer and closer together, and more and more severe.
Soccer as a sport needs to get this together, and as hard as it may be, get this under control. It isn't good for anyone for a team to play in an empty stadium, but what choice do you have when the team's fans are so awful?
It's a disappointment to the sport that they need to resort to this, but they need to use this power more often so that this problem dissipates.
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