Friday, June 22nd, 2012 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

By Tony Attwood

According to official observers at the Euros, Italy’s Balotelli was subjected to monkey chants by between 300 and 500 Croatia supporters during a group game. There were also accusations of a banana being thrown onto the pitch at the Municipal Stadium.

Uefa expressing its horror fined Croatia €80,000 for the setting-off and throwing of fireworks, and the improper conduct of supporters (racist chants, racist symbols).

The fine, it has been suggested in some quarters of the media, was just about the biggest Uefa has ever imposed for a racism-related incident – but it included the fine for the setting-off and throwing of fireworks.  In effect the fine for racism is about one half of the total: around 40,000 euros.

Nicklas Bendtner was fined €100,000 for his Paddy Power underwear, and banned for one match.

The Croatian FA HNS has previously been fined around 22,000 euros for racism and the invasion of the pitch by a supporter, and were fined around 16,000 euros by Fifa four years ago after Emile Heskey was subjected to monkey chants in a World Cup game in Zagreb.  HMS were also given an even smaller fine during Euro 2008 for racist abuse during their game against Turkey.

So the fine for repeated racism among spectators has gone up from about €16,000 to about €40,000.   Ambush marketing is at €100,000 plus a one match ban.

This is just a continuation of the past.
In October 2000 Patrick Vieira claimed that Sinisa Mihajlovic called him a black bastard and a fucking black monkey, which Mihajlovic denied. Mihajlovic claimed that Vieira had started it by calling him a gypsy.  Mihajlovic was given a two game ban.

In June 2007 Nedum Onuoha received racist abuse at the Under-21 European Championship.  The Serbian Football Federation was fined €13,000 for “racist chanting of supporters and the improper conduct of their players”.

In June 2008 Croatian fans were found guilty of “displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct” during a Euro 2008 game against Turkey and were fined €12,000.

In February 2012 fans of Porto gave Mario Balotelli continual raccist abuse in the Europa League match.  Porto were fined €18,000.   Manchester City got a higher fine for returning to the field less than a minute late after half-time.

The former coach of Ukraine, Oleg Blokhin, complained about African players in the local league saying: “Ukrainians should learn from Shevchenko or Blokhin and not from some zumba-bumba whom they took off a tree, gave him two bananas and now he plays in the Ukrainian League.”    He has had no sanctions, and is, I believe still some of a hero in his country.

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So what shall we learn?

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By handing out very small punishments for repeated racism Uefa proves that their punishments don’t work, because people do it again and again.

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Small fines against national associations with no other sanctions don’t work in that clearly the associations don’t take effective action against those perpetrating the crime.  The racist supporters know that nothing happens to them, so they do it again.  Their association pay out the tiny amounts of money, lose no points, get banned from no competitions or matches (unlike Bendtner) and carry on.  So they have no motivation to change anything.

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Uefa knows this, having been doing it for some time, so why does it carry on?  What logical reason is there for penalising Bendtner but not the supporters who are involved in racism and the association that refuses to deal with them?   Why is it that Uefa will not say to associations: if your supporters are found guilty of racist chanting you will be thrown out of the next competition?  No need for a fine, because that will end the country’s football income.  For a second offence they could also ban all friendly internationals against Uefa recognised clubs and countries for a period of time.

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Uefa says that it wants to keep the countries in the football community, which effectively means Uefa is racist at heart.  It has the will to fine players and individuals for breaking its money making rules, but not to take even similar levels of action against racist abuse. And even similar levels of action would be unacceptable, because that would put wearing an advert on your pants as equivalent to racism.   Only if racism penalties were 1000 times the size of marketing penalties would the balance be put right.

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Uefa is not a body with no will to fight racism – it is a body that supports racism, by suggesting that racism is equal to less than half the damage done by wearing an advert on your pants.  That is an insult to everyone who has ever suffered from racism, and indeed a boost to racists everywhere – and that is the crime of Uefa.

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Following from this, association with such racists and joining in their parties is itself a sign of the closet acceptance of racism – and that is what the FA and indeed all football associations are guilty of.  When a host nation is chosen and this leads to the fact that the parents of players who have the honour of playing for their country cannot go, because of the racism, then something is seriously wrong with a) the organisation that chose the host nation, and b) the countries that go along with this.

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I remember reading once that Uefa said that by not banning countries where nothing much is done to counteract racism, it keeps the door open to discussion and education.  Sadly I can’t now find that quote, but it rings true given that it is an empty phrase with nothing behind it to show even the slightest sign of success.

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If that is their policy they have failed, and they should have abandoned the policy long ago.  The FA knows about Fifa and racism and in my mind by being part of the set-up the FA is itself colluding in the acceptance of racism at football matches.

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