Racism in European football

Everytime I see droves of football fans (soccer fans for Americans) I have the urge to hide. Maybe this is why not too many folks like me are attracted to the game in Europe. Football fans are whiter than the population at large. And more prone to screaming racial slurs.

The most recent incident in the ongoing European championships: the arrest of 157 Germans in Klagenfurt.

A photographer from the Agence France Press witnessed an initial group of arrests being made when a group of approximately 60 men chanted racist, anti-Polish slogans including the phrase “all Poles should wear yellow stars” in reference to the rules enforced by the Nazi regime before and during World War II. (Story here. )

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Klagenfurt police released a statement saying: “About 140 risk fans were surrounded and arrested by police, following dangerous attacks, minor violations and suspicions of criminal actions.”

I really like this zero-tolerance policy of identifying “risk” fans and arresting them even for minor violations.

Of course, it’s not just Germans who are hooligans. The Swiss have built temporary prisons for hooligans of all stripes, including Swiss. Other examples of European football-related intolerance:

The European Football Season season of 2007-2008 had barely started, when we witnessed a series of serious racist, xenophobic and far-right incidents. In Italy, notorious Lazio fans racially abused and attacked Senegal‘s international Dame N’Doye during a friendly with Panathinaikos. Newcastle United supporters directed Islamophobic chants at Middlesbrough forward and Egyptian star Mido. In Hungary, former national coach Kalman Meszoly remarked during a TV interview about African players with Hungarian clubs: “They have barely come down from the trees“. When Croatia played Bosnia & Herzegovina in Sarajevo, Croatian fans formed a human U symbol representing the fascist Ustase movement responsible for mass killings of Serbs, Jews and the Roma during World War II. Other incidences have been reported from Austria, France, Germany, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Russian Federation, Scotland, Serbia and Slovakia. (Story and photos here.)

With such a complex and bloody history, one can expect nationalist sentiments to froth over when Europeans come face to face in heated sporting events. And yes, white on white intolerance is deemed as racist here. 

UEFA, the European football association, came out with a 10-point plan for European clubs in 2002.

1. Issue a statement saying the club will not tolerate racism, spelling out the action it will take against those engaged in racist chanting. The statement should be printed in all match programmes and displayed permanently and prominently around the ground.
2. Make public address announcements condemning racist chanting at matches.
3. Make it a condition for season-ticket holders that they do not take part in racist abuse.
4. Take action to prevent the sale of racist literature inside and around the ground.
5. Take disciplinary action against players who engage in racial abuse.
6. Contact other clubs to make sure they understand the club’s policy on racism.
7. Encourage a common strategy between stewards and police for dealing with racist abuse.
8. Remove all racist graffiti from the ground as a matter of urgency.
9. Adopt an equal opportunities’ policy in relation to employment and service provision.
10. Work with all other groups and agencies, such as the players union, supporters, schools, voluntary organisations, youth clubs, sponsors, local authorities, local businesses and police, to develop pro-active programmes and make progress to raise awareness of campaigning to eliminate racial abuse and discrimination.

Here is a link to UEFA’s brochure on how to fight racism.

http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefa/KeyTopics/448328_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Judging from the reaction of the police in Klagenfurt, the campaign seems to be making some headway. Where there’s still a way to go is in integrating talent not just on the player side but on the management side.

It is one thing to watch and admire the skills of Patrick Vieira or Rio Ferdinand; it is another thing altogether to be answerable to them, to take orders from them, to get the proverbial bollocking. That demands an altogether different kind of respect and recognition, and a quite different relationship. White people the world over are used to giving orders to those of colour, not receiving them. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jan/08/race.thefarright