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
Monday, November 3, 2014
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.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
It's Back
Soccer season has come upon us once again. Technically, it never really stopped with the World Cup this summer, but now club teams are back in action, and the season has had a few weeks, so it's safe to say we're in full swing again.
Several issues have occurred in the last little while that I wanted to touch on. One of them is from the World Cup.
The World Cup is the single most watched sporting event in the world. Although the average American may not be a soccer nut, the rest of the world is. I once heard the comparison that the World Cup makes the Super Bowl look like a coffee shop performance. It's literally the world's biggest stage- so I knew something was bound to happen.
Overall, as I watched, I didn't see as many incidents as I thought. Most of the incidents in the World Cup happened regarding the taxes in Brazil to pay FOR the World Cup, not racial incidents. One thing I did notice was very obvious, however.
If you had the sound on while you were watching a game, especially a Brazil game (home field advantage), you noticed that every time there was a goal kick, the crowd was yelling, then all chanted something as he kicked the ball. Being a soccer fan myself, I know how this goes (UMD soccer fans yell "you suck *goalie*" on goal kicks), so I wasn't surprised. I just didn't know what they were saying, since it was in Portugese.
Well, a commentator helped me out on that one, and on the broadcast said they were yelling an "anti- homosexual slur." Think about it for a minute, and the word that comes to mind: it's that word. It begins with f. It's bad.
This is one example of crossing the line. I understand competitiveness. I understand supporting your team. Believe it or not, I understand going all out and dressing up for a game (shout out to the Brazilian guy who dressed as the Hulk to support the player Hulk), and I understand yelling at the other team- to a point.
That point ends at abuse. It's not okay to yell that at any player, or person. It doesn't matter what their orientation is. It's awful.
There were, for the record, several occasions of fans dressing in black face when they played against certain teams.
That's another case of crossing the line. Face paint and black face are not in the same category. One is fun. The other is racist and abusive.
The problem is that people either don't get that, and those are the people that we have to wonder if they have to remember to breathe and blink: OR that people just don't care, because sports.
Seriously.
And I would say it's the latter, because sports (especially soccer, where there's so much pent up tension and emotion built into the sport) can bring out the best and worst in people. We only hear about the worst.
Several issues have occurred in the last little while that I wanted to touch on. One of them is from the World Cup.
The World Cup is the single most watched sporting event in the world. Although the average American may not be a soccer nut, the rest of the world is. I once heard the comparison that the World Cup makes the Super Bowl look like a coffee shop performance. It's literally the world's biggest stage- so I knew something was bound to happen.
Overall, as I watched, I didn't see as many incidents as I thought. Most of the incidents in the World Cup happened regarding the taxes in Brazil to pay FOR the World Cup, not racial incidents. One thing I did notice was very obvious, however.
If you had the sound on while you were watching a game, especially a Brazil game (home field advantage), you noticed that every time there was a goal kick, the crowd was yelling, then all chanted something as he kicked the ball. Being a soccer fan myself, I know how this goes (UMD soccer fans yell "you suck *goalie*" on goal kicks), so I wasn't surprised. I just didn't know what they were saying, since it was in Portugese.
Well, a commentator helped me out on that one, and on the broadcast said they were yelling an "anti- homosexual slur." Think about it for a minute, and the word that comes to mind: it's that word. It begins with f. It's bad.
This is one example of crossing the line. I understand competitiveness. I understand supporting your team. Believe it or not, I understand going all out and dressing up for a game (shout out to the Brazilian guy who dressed as the Hulk to support the player Hulk), and I understand yelling at the other team- to a point.
That point ends at abuse. It's not okay to yell that at any player, or person. It doesn't matter what their orientation is. It's awful.
There were, for the record, several occasions of fans dressing in black face when they played against certain teams.
That's another case of crossing the line. Face paint and black face are not in the same category. One is fun. The other is racist and abusive.
The problem is that people either don't get that, and those are the people that we have to wonder if they have to remember to breathe and blink: OR that people just don't care, because sports.
Seriously.
And I would say it's the latter, because sports (especially soccer, where there's so much pent up tension and emotion built into the sport) can bring out the best and worst in people. We only hear about the worst.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
The Beginning- Mario Balotelli and Milan v. Italy
The first incident that comes to my mind about racism in soccer is that of Mario Balotelli, for AC Milan, that occurred about a year ago today.
As background, Balotelli was born to Ghanian parents, and was raised by Italian (and white) parents in Brescia, about an hour and a half east of Milan.
He is recognized as one of the top young players in the world, was bought by Milan from Manchester City in the 2012/2013 winter transfer window to help salvage an awful season.
Just before he arrived, Milan played a small team called Pro Patria in a friendly over the break. About 20 minutes into that game, Kevin Prince-Boateng, another Ghanian player, kicked the ball into the stands and left the pitch with the rest of the team.
He did this because he was being abused by the crowd.
They waved bananas at him. They made monkey noises at him.
All in 20 minutes, so Boateng did all he could- leave.
He was applauded and supported by his teammates, coaches, fans (of both Milan and Pro Patria), and everyone in between. Since then, he has been a bigger and bigger part of anti- racism campaigns in Europe for UEFA and FIFA. He's essentially the anti- racism spokesperson in the soccer world, and this was one of the incidents that brought even more attention to this issue.
Fast forward about a month, to when Balotelli arrived in Milan. His first game, what came from the crowd?
Monkey noises. More racist chants.
In his first game in Italy, Balotelli was racially abused through the whole game.
He managed to handle it well both on the pitch and in his press conference afterwards. But as the season went on, he was abused pretty much every game.
I'm not even exaggerating.
He took racist abuse in at the very least every away game.
A few home games he even took racist abuse from the away fan sections.
And, as expected, he became more and more bothered by it. However, he said he would not let Milan down, so he continued playing. The culmination of the season came in Milan's final home game, their second to last game.
This was about a year ago or so today. Milan was playing Roma in Milan, and Milan needed a win. As a fan, I had the game on.
In the second half, in the middle of play, the referee took the ball and blew his whistle. Everyone stopped. Both coaches looked around, confused. The Milan players went to the ref and pointed at a section of the crowd, looking enraged.
Balotelli looked at the same section, put his hands on his hips, and then threw his hands up at them. He then signaled to them to be quiet. The Roma players talked to the ref, and the ref sent Roma captain Francesco Totti to the section.
It was a Roma fan section that had been chanting racist things at Balotelli and other black Milan players for 10 minutes.
The announcers described that the game could be stopped entirely.
After five minutes, the game resumed. After the game ended, every player and coach on the pitch said the same thing- that should not have happened.
The fans, obviously, should not be doing this. Every player has the same stance- that it needs to stop.
The problem is that, to my knowledge, there was no punishment handed down for Roma.
At the most, there was a fine for the club. The players all apologized on the part of the fans and said it was ridiculous and shameful.
But there was nothing else.
This is a huge, recurring problem, but nothing is done about it that does anything, as I'll talk more about in my next post. But this was the incident that sparked action on the part of many, and brought even more attention to an issue that has plagued the world's sport for years.
As background, Balotelli was born to Ghanian parents, and was raised by Italian (and white) parents in Brescia, about an hour and a half east of Milan.
He is recognized as one of the top young players in the world, was bought by Milan from Manchester City in the 2012/2013 winter transfer window to help salvage an awful season.
Just before he arrived, Milan played a small team called Pro Patria in a friendly over the break. About 20 minutes into that game, Kevin Prince-Boateng, another Ghanian player, kicked the ball into the stands and left the pitch with the rest of the team.
He did this because he was being abused by the crowd.
They waved bananas at him. They made monkey noises at him.
All in 20 minutes, so Boateng did all he could- leave.
He was applauded and supported by his teammates, coaches, fans (of both Milan and Pro Patria), and everyone in between. Since then, he has been a bigger and bigger part of anti- racism campaigns in Europe for UEFA and FIFA. He's essentially the anti- racism spokesperson in the soccer world, and this was one of the incidents that brought even more attention to this issue.
Fast forward about a month, to when Balotelli arrived in Milan. His first game, what came from the crowd?
Monkey noises. More racist chants.
In his first game in Italy, Balotelli was racially abused through the whole game.
He managed to handle it well both on the pitch and in his press conference afterwards. But as the season went on, he was abused pretty much every game.
I'm not even exaggerating.
He took racist abuse in at the very least every away game.
A few home games he even took racist abuse from the away fan sections.
And, as expected, he became more and more bothered by it. However, he said he would not let Milan down, so he continued playing. The culmination of the season came in Milan's final home game, their second to last game.
This was about a year ago or so today. Milan was playing Roma in Milan, and Milan needed a win. As a fan, I had the game on.
In the second half, in the middle of play, the referee took the ball and blew his whistle. Everyone stopped. Both coaches looked around, confused. The Milan players went to the ref and pointed at a section of the crowd, looking enraged.
Balotelli looked at the same section, put his hands on his hips, and then threw his hands up at them. He then signaled to them to be quiet. The Roma players talked to the ref, and the ref sent Roma captain Francesco Totti to the section.
It was a Roma fan section that had been chanting racist things at Balotelli and other black Milan players for 10 minutes.
The announcers described that the game could be stopped entirely.
After five minutes, the game resumed. After the game ended, every player and coach on the pitch said the same thing- that should not have happened.
The fans, obviously, should not be doing this. Every player has the same stance- that it needs to stop.
The problem is that, to my knowledge, there was no punishment handed down for Roma.
At the most, there was a fine for the club. The players all apologized on the part of the fans and said it was ridiculous and shameful.
But there was nothing else.
This is a huge, recurring problem, but nothing is done about it that does anything, as I'll talk more about in my next post. But this was the incident that sparked action on the part of many, and brought even more attention to an issue that has plagued the world's sport for years.
Friday, May 9, 2014
About Me and Why I'm Here
Hello there! My name is Patrick Stoll, and I am a Journalism major at the University of Maryland,
College Park.
I am also in the Honors Humanities Program, which allows me to look at things in a
more "humanistic" and deeper way, like a liberal-arts college while still having the benefits of a large
university.
One of the things we do is a "Keystone" project, a two-year project where we take some
aspect of the humanities and work with it in our own personal way.
Here is where the blog comes in:
This blog will serve as my Keystone project.
And about what, you may ask?
I'm glad you asked.
I will be talking about, as the title suggests, the world's biggest problem in the world's biggest sport, or rather, racism in soccer.
I am an avid soccer (and sports in general) fan. My club is AC Milan, who I support even in the darkest of times in the club (like right about now, but that is a different subject).
While watching soccer, I have seen the problem of racist abuse on the part of fans, and players as well, develop into a constant problem that plagues the entire soccer world.
Everywhere from Spain to Germany, Italy to France, England to Russia, and even Brazil and Argentina.
What I want to do is analyze this issue.
I will be posting every week (I hope) about any new incidents that happen in the soccer world that relate to this issue.
I wish I had a solution to propose for these incidents, but I don't, at least not right now.
So on that note, welcome to my blog, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
-Patrick
College Park.
I am also in the Honors Humanities Program, which allows me to look at things in a
more "humanistic" and deeper way, like a liberal-arts college while still having the benefits of a large
university.
One of the things we do is a "Keystone" project, a two-year project where we take some
aspect of the humanities and work with it in our own personal way.
Here is where the blog comes in:
This blog will serve as my Keystone project.
And about what, you may ask?
I'm glad you asked.
I will be talking about, as the title suggests, the world's biggest problem in the world's biggest sport, or rather, racism in soccer.
I am an avid soccer (and sports in general) fan. My club is AC Milan, who I support even in the darkest of times in the club (like right about now, but that is a different subject).
While watching soccer, I have seen the problem of racist abuse on the part of fans, and players as well, develop into a constant problem that plagues the entire soccer world.
Everywhere from Spain to Germany, Italy to France, England to Russia, and even Brazil and Argentina.
What I want to do is analyze this issue.
I will be posting every week (I hope) about any new incidents that happen in the soccer world that relate to this issue.
I wish I had a solution to propose for these incidents, but I don't, at least not right now.
So on that note, welcome to my blog, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
-Patrick
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