RST Statement on Mark Burchill
We call on the SFA to take the
strongest possible action against Livingston manager, Mark Burchill after comments made by him on Radio Clyde tonight.
Burchill, in trying to justify the thuggish actions of his players in the Petrofac Cup tie against Rangers last night and Kieron Gibbons in particular, stated that:
"Kieron Gibbons is a young, talented Scottish footballer who has signed for a Scottish club. Nathan Oduwa is an English footballer who has not signed for a Scottish club. So we are dragging someone over the coals who is one of our own - who is a player who could possibly play for Scotland in the future."
His comments
are at best xenophobic and at worst casual racism. The idea that Scottish players should be able to get away with serious foul play if their target is of another nationality is quite incredible. Burchill is condoning his player's attempt to seriously injure an opposition player. That he's doing it based on a blinkered, backward and insular assessment of a player's worth to the Scottish game makes his comments even worse.
Nathan Oduwa is a highly talented young player. He is the type of fast, exciting, skilful player that fans pay to see, regardless of his team or nationality. For a Scottish manager to suggest this type of player may not make a worthwhile contribution to our game is deeply concerning. If this attitude is prevalent it may go some way to explaining our national side's relative lack of success in recent years.
If Nathan Oduwa only spends a year in Scotland he'll contribute more to the Scottish game than players like Kieron Gibbons will in a lifetime.
In the middle of a fortnight of action from Show Racism the Red Card, Burchill's comments are unwelcome and worthy of attention from the SFA if they are serious about tackling such issues in football.
