Racism in football is not just the sport’s problem
Written by Rabbil Sikdar (Twitter: @RA_Sikdar)
The inevitability of racism is such that even those who you might think would surely be beyond its reach, are ensnared, victims of a social illness that Britain perpetually struggles with. Marcus Rashford might be the young man fighting his government to ensure that the accessibility of food for children is not lost, but he’s also a black man. And that, is too much for some people.
Many people will say that football is witnessing the return of racism. Players have become targeted as racism has transferred from terraces to social media as, protected by anonymity, racists have targeted footballers. The likes of Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Mohamed Salah have received unspeakable abuse for years now. Every bad performance has become a cause for zeroing in on ethnic or religious differences. But, I’d argue that football isn’t witnessing the return of racism, but simply its emboldening. It never went in the first place. Throwing banana skins at black footballers might be unfashionable yet they remain brutally targeted, as they have been for years. When John Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand, it was the latter and his brother who were castigated. When Luis Suarez racially abused Patrice Evra, a lot of Liverpool fans, famously left-wing, turned on Evra.
Every time, footballing authorities have intervened and done little to suggest they’re understanding the magnitude of the problems. Taking the knee at best feels performative because problems in football remain at a structural level. The dearth of south Asian footballers which we cover and continue to shine the light on at Outsiders Footy here. The stereotyping of black footballers as athletes with limited cerebral attributes, and thus never seriously looking at them as possible football coaches. The game cannot be fixed overnight but preparations to make it more inclusive have to be deep and wide. Right now, there’s little to show that the BLM protests have triggered this because authorities decided to take a knee and call it a day there.
The irresponsibility of football journalism in its coverage of footballers also contributes to this. Consider the statistics of Mo Salah and then how he is spoken about. Consider how Raheem Sterling was relentlessly targeted over mundane things — something he articulately illustrated on social media after finally having enough. Footballers of a different skin tone are written about very differently. They are divers whereas Harry Kane is intelligently using his body. Andre Villas-Boas was too young to manage Chelsea, but Frank Lampard should have been given more time to compensate for his stunning mediocrity.
The way in which white Englishmen are spoken about compared to others helps shape things negatively where it concerns those not seen as purely English. And it isn’t entirely true either. There are talented English coaches in the lower leagues who aren’t being given a chance, but the issue lies there. Premier League clubs aren’t looking at coaches from lower leagues, thus making it harder for English coaches to break through into top clubs. But the idea that English coaches are underrated begins to feel hollow when our best currently is Roy Hodgson — no disrespect intended to him either, but I remember what happened when he managed a big English club.
We should be cautious of treating racism in football as the game’s problem instead of something that is reflective of the wider social malaise in Britain. Racism has lurked on the edges of public discourse since Brexit. What kind of country we wanted to be became a question for some following our departure from the European Union. The empowerment of bigots after the referendum manifested in rising hate crime. The manner in which eastern Europeans, Muslims and refugees are discussed within public discourse is one of suspicion and hostility. You cannot separate resurgent racism in football to the inflammatory public conversations that have been taking place in Britain, they are linked.
Britain fought a referendum on the implicit theme that foreigners had left British people powerless. A man with a track record of racist comments was elected Prime Minister while his opponent was leading up a party being investigated for anti-Semitism. Refugees are treated as both burdens upon local resources and threats to the culture. Muslim women who wear headscarves are often treated as if they have little personal agency. Racial inequality remains reflective in the deep pay gaps between some ethnic groups and English people in different sectors while those without English-sounding names are less likely to get interviews than their white English peers.
In this regard, football is merely watching racism spill from wider society into its bubble. The beautiful game that should be about ninety minutes of escapism (or hell if you’re an Arsenal fan) isn’t immune to what’s happening in our country. The combination of social media and Brexit has armed a lot of people with the confidence to racially abuse footballers. What Sterling, Rashford and others have endured shows that the battle against racism and intolerance is ever-present, and everchanging, and linked to what’s playing out in everyday society.
Some would say that criticisms of racism in British football shouldn’t be exaggerated. There’s some merit in that argument only if we operate by a moral code where we judge ourselves through comparisons to others. Europe is a cesspit of far-right nationalism and ugly xenophobia. England being better than them on racism doesn’t automatically translate to England being good on racism. It just means our European neighbours have even more work to do.
It’s not the FA’s responsibility to educate people about racism. This is on schools, parents and simply everyday society. What footballing authorities can do however is ensure that the punishment is a severe one. No-one should have to hear racism in a stadium. The penalty should fall on both individuals and the clubs. This would be far more useful in deterring racists from abusing people if they are worried their actions will have consequences for their clubs.
Showing racism the red card hasn’t been how English football has operated. It’s often been warnings and yellow cards instead. But the abuse of black footballers online demonstrates that there needs to be a radical approach on tackling this at all levels, in all forms.
