Kick Racism out of Football

Kick Racism out of Football

We live in a world or rather a generation, where everything is progressive. Technology is so rapidly improving that it is taking over nearly every aspect in our daily life. You can do nearly everything on your phones now, ranging from staying connected to friends across the world, to creating and promoting a business to paying your bills. Soon using oil would (or should) become obsolete as we move more towards wind-powered and electrical based platforms to power our daily lives. Why point out all this in a football blog? Because I think that its really ironic is a very disgusting way, that we have moved leaps and bounds in so many aspects of life with respect to technology and lifestyles and even acceptable of people’s difference, yet we are in 2018 and the most popular sport in the world is still infected with racism.

I think it is almost fitting that in a year where LGBT community is gaining its most social acceptance thus far from the general public, and having laws and whatnot passed in their favor in various countries, that something as simple as having the decency to have basic human respect for people of different races and ethnicities is coming to light in a much clearer way. This, however, is something new or something that has just resurfaced but has quietly been around rearing its ugly head in small parts of the game. However, this year a lot of players have come forward to speak about how they were mistreated due to their race and heritage. Below are a few examples of players who have come forth:

Romelu Lukaku speaking on racism in Belgium, “I would be surprised if there is a black man in Belgium who says he has never experienced racism. I will tell him he is the biggest liar I have ever met. Its out there, people don’t fear to say it. Those people are ignorant and uneducated, that’s what I call them.

“You always get the odd occasion when they call you the Belgian of Congolese descent, when you do bad. So, I think, ok cool, if that’s how it’s going to be, revenge is going to be sweet. I won’t say anything now, I will open my mouth later.”

“You’re not born racist.”

Mesut Ӧzil on his race being an excuse for Germany’s poor showing at the 2018 World Cup, “Certain German newspapers are using my background and photo with President Erdogen as right-wing propaganda to further their political cause. Why else did they use pictures and headlines with my name as a direct explanation for defeat in Russia? They didn’t criticize my performances, they didn’t criticize the team’s performances, they criticized my Turkish ancestor and respect for my upbringing. This crosses a personal line that should never be crossed, as newspapers try to turn the nation of Germany against me.”

Now, do not be shocked. These things are not new. Many footballers have to endure such intense pressure to continuous perform at an obscene level in order to avoid persecution. Mesut’s instance of his nation’s journalists trying to turn the nation against him due to his heritage is not something uncommon. Just look to England, where Raheem Sterling is continuous unjustly persecuted by onlookers and journalists alike, on an unreal regular basis. In the following screenshots are some of the absurd instances where publishers have tried to use their position to paint Sterling in a negative light:

These players are not some players who happen to occasionally represent their respective countries, who also turn in less-than-substantial performances. These are top talents that stand amongst the top performers within their club and national teams. Ӧzil has recently retired (due to these racial allegations) but the other 2 continue to be amongst the best performers for their nations. Ӧzil is Germany’s top assister in their history, Lukaku is the top scorer of Belgium and Sterling is one of the best performers for England and continues to be a key part in their plans. So why are they made to be targets for unwarranted criticism? The answer is unknown, and the solution is even further away. It seems like despite how well they play they cannot avoid it and unfortunately racism is by no means leaving football or our society anytime soon. Sad. Really Sad. Disappointing actually, we could be progressive in so many other areas, but we cannot give an equal chance and equal respect for people who just look differently to us?

My basis on pressing to (finally) writing this article, was seeing Sterling step out like those mentioned before, to speak on the racism he faced during a game against Chelsea during matchday 16. He was subjected to racial slurs where he took it in stride and continued to play but pushed him to make the following post on his social media:

And it must be said he has a valid point, for us to really push to begin removing racism from football then those with the voices that people listen to, must do better. Much better to equal in our speech, fair in the opportunities to players and just in our decisions. It is well spoken that newspapers are to be the voice of truth where people should be informed of the facts that not everyone wants out in the open. Instead we can see it being used to benefit personal agendas. When did we lose our purpose as being voices amongst the noise?

Racism also has its way of being subtle, and in forms that may not be easily recognized. In facts I would go as far as to say some people may make racist comments without even being aware of it. Not too long ago, Xavi had an interview with Journal Du Dimanche after France’s opening world cup fixture. When speaking of Mbappe he said the following:

"He is a formidable 19-year-old striker, who has shown great things to PSG and will continue to improve. Mbappé will be one of the cracks of tomorrow. But I find him more physical than talented, like Pogba I think, even if I have not seen him play this season"

Later on, in the year he was speaking to Catalunya Radio and when speaking on who can meet the levels of Messi, between Neymar and Mbappe, he had the following to say with respect to Mbappe:

“He's a very superior player physically. It's impressive that at his age he has those differences, but he could also get stuck, it's very difficult to predict.”

He constantly refers to his (Mbappe) physical ability which breeds into the stigma of black players area of ability to be strictly physical. And this is not the first instant where players of color were referred to as special based on their physical attributes rather than their technical ability. There have been so many other instances where players of color are reduced to comments about their physique that it almost becomes the norm.

In closing, the shocking thing about all these instances are they have all happened in 2018. These things have been happening to so many players not just in Europe but all over the world. What Sterling and Ӧzil in particular in calling out these companies and persons of power on their behavior is right. Shedding light on things like these are the only was we could provide an environment for all to feel welcome, not just in football, but in society.

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