Apologies for the misinterpretation. That's not what I was conveying. I was referring to the comment that if Rose is substituted because he isn't concentrating as a result of the racist abuse then that isn't the way to go about it. Which I agree with.
I know you didn't mean it that way. I was referring to the condescending fashionistas who regard racism as a conversation piece when its not. Its one of the great crimes of the human race.
Of course action needs to be taken against racism at football matches; but some forms of action are ineffective, and may in certain circumstances lead to even more serious consequences. If I took my kids to a match and they were subjected to abuse, I would (a) walk out with them and (b) demand there and then to speak to someone in authority at the club and also to whoever was in charge of policing the match. I would not start hurling abuse back, or start clambering over seats trying to get my hands on the perpetrators, or whatever. As I said earlier in the thread, I think the authorities need to agree a code of practice laying down specific procedures to be followed in such circumstances. This would give any player subjected to racist abuse a clear course to follow. For example, the first step might be that he tells his on-field captain what is happening. The captain should be empowered by the code of practice to inform the referee, who would then be required to inform the 4th official, and so on. One of the advantages of such a set of agreed procedures would be that players subjected to abuse would know that they do not have to put up with it and are not being left to deal with it as best they can in their own way. That in itself would take a lot of pressure off them. Regarding FIFA, it isn't at all clear to me how widespread racist abuse at matches is when viewed worldwide. In South America, for instance, is racism a problem? Or in Africa? There's plenty of nastiness on the terraces in both continents, but I suspect it is more tribal or culturally based than racist. What we are talking about is largely a European phenomenon and specifically to do with black players. It isn't even clear how widespread it is within Europe. For example, it was a major concern prior to EURO 2012, particularly with regard to Ukraine. But, in the event, such instances as did occur were, as far as I know, few and far between. That said, there should be a zero tolerance policy towards it wherever it occurs, which is something FIFA and UEFA need to understand. There are plenty of European countries who have tackled this problem, and if they got together they could exert a lot of pressure.
Is it only black players that are able to hear this abuse? If they can hear it, surely so can the officials! WHY are they not doing anything about it? Start punishing referees for taking no action, then see what happens in future matches!
You can't start punishing referees for not taking any action! I referee every Sunday and I have reported frequent racial abuse from the crowd to the local FA and they couldn't give a toss! 5 Reports I have handed in to them this season so far and all I get is a shrug of the shoulders! The referee has enough to worry about on the pitch and he has clear sanctions if a player racially abuses another.
The ref should be able to take the players off the field and abandon the game! I'm talking about abuse by the crowd, not an opponent!
Unfortunately football is now big business with all the commercial considerations that this entails. The first referee that did this would be hung out to dry. Secondly the referee will be concentrating more on the game than on the crowd so to put all the emphasis on the referee in my view would be unfair and unworkable.
I would also like to add that it is for the football authorities to take action on this problem and in my view abandoning a game due to a mindless minority would ensure a victory for the racists!
A clearly defined procedure where the abused player informs his captain, and the captain informs the referee would also help at grass roots level. But the question then is what action the referee could reasonably take. What might work is some arrangement where the abusive spectator can be warned, and if he/she persists, a call made to the police. Might something along those lines be workable? After all, anybody can report racist behaviour to their local police.
And yet, the local fa will throw the book at you for innocuous stuff. They are a joke, which is exactly why I gave up. Too many idiots running football, at all levels.
Not that might is always right, but football governing bodies are now held in the balance by smaller nations. I don't believe these nations have any other interests than their own. I can't possibly see how the NZFA or Burkina Faso can have any concept of football played in the hot cauldrons of Europe and South America. They will act and vote for their own self interests so laissez fire is the agenda. No controversial decisions against countries are to be tolerated to upset the balance of power.
The problem with this is... that the Football authorities aren't and won't take action, so maybe a grand gesture would start the ball rolling, once one team did it the others would surely follow. I wouldn't have a problem personally if a game I was at was abandoned over this issue. As to the referee issue, I was officiating at a game some years ago in the Yarmouth and District league, and taking some horrendous abuse from a spectator, after about 15 minutes of being called a blind **** and various other expletives, I went to the manager of the home team and told him to have a word otherwise I would call the game off, he just looked at me as if I was joking. I said, well the game won't re-start until do you do it. He still didn't believe me, so I walked back onto the pitch, called the captains over and said, "I wasn't prepared to take abuse from the touchline and had asked the manager to intervene, he apparently was reluctant to do it so I'm calling the game off"! The game did re-start only because the home captain went and had heated words with the spectator, who eventually shuffled off. I recorded it in my match report, but never heard a thing about it from the FA or the two clubs. It can be done, you just have to be prepared to stand up and be counted, and MEAN IT!!!
We used to have a team down here called Castle United, a pikey team. We got drawn against them in the Cornwall Cup. The spectators used to chuck golf balls at you if you were playing well. Of course we used to give them a bit back about inbreeding and hedgehogs so I guess we were kind of racist. Mind you they were asking for it.
As a protest against those nasty Serbs, I'm considering writing to Norwich City Council and asking them to re-name the Novi Sad friendship bridge near Carrow Road. I thought maybe the Danny Rose bridge.....?
If anyone has a spare four minutes, here's Ian Holloway's verdict on it! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20009560
Last night at the Wednesday v Leeds match, Dave Jones was subjected to chanting every bit as abhorrent as racist abuse. Twelve years ago he was accused of sexually abusing youngsters in a home; he stood trial and was acquitted, the judge specifically saying that ‘no wrong-doing whatsoever has been established’. Yet Jones and his family have to endure that sort of vile taunting to this day, and there are posters on here who apparently think there's nothing wrong in repeating such discredited tittle tattle. Is this sort of vile behaviour any more excusable than racism, and why isn't it met with similar outrage? We fans are quick to condemn racism in this country, while apparently acquiescing in similarly abhorrent forms of personal abuse.
Robbie, I've not seen anyone on here abusing anyone else in the way that you mention! If it happened, trust me, it would be dealt with in the same manner as racial, or homophobic abuse! I ask anyone who see's this sort of thing on here with no action taken, please notify Maestro or myself! It will not be tolerated!
