Football’s Last Taboo…
An investigation is now underway into allegations of racist abuse directed at United’s black players by Benfica fans. United claim home supporters showered Louis Saha and Patrice Evra with racist vitriol before the Champions League match in Lisbon last month. Benfica will be sweating over the investigators’ verdict as both Uefa and Fifa have pledged to sanction heavily clubs whose fans are guilty of racism.
United’s complaint is a decision to protect the welfare of their players but also represents the club’s desire to stand up for decency. It is another victory for football’s campaign against racism and more evidence that United remain a progressive force within sport.
The club, as a result of Eric Cantona’s high-kicking intervention a decade ago, did much to raise the profile of the fight against prejudice. Cantona’s direct action was decisive in propelling the concerns of black players and fans into the mainstream, creating a new football culture which outlawed outward expression of racism.
“It’s a great thing to take a stand against racism,” Sir Alex Ferguson admitted. “At first I thought Eric would have to leave because of that incident but you can’t just condemn a man because he lost his temper, no matter how bad it looks to the media.
“To young kids, footballers are heroes, and if heroes are saying ’racism, I’m not into that, I respect everyone,’ it has an effect. Football is the strongest vehicle in the world.
“I think it’s all down to education and how people are brought up. I was brought up in a family where there was never any prejudice. If parents are saying to their kids “Don’t play with that Charlie down the road because he is black,” what message does that give? I think education is the secret.”
It has been well-observed that SKY television’s Premiership sponsorship has changed the social profile of match-day spectators. Less remarked upon perhaps is the number of match-going black and Asian fans following their local side. They are ready to support the national team too with a fervour many thought unthinkable in the 1970’s and 1980’s, in a direct rebuke of the old slogan that there is no black in the Union Jack.
The nation’s top league is now a no-go area for anyone suspected of racism. The television excommunication of Ron Atkinson, following his offensive criticism of Marcel Desailly, serves as measure of the influence of anti-racism campaigners.
Fans reared in the Sky era will have little memory of the state of the sport two decades ago. Football terraces often resembled Nuremberg rallies and black players received bullets through the post and bananas on the field. Black footballers are no longer suspected of being a team’s weak link if they are in goal or in central midfield. Moreover, the invisible team quota of three black players or less has been effectively smashed. Arsene Wenger in particular, shows no sign of respecting this ‘tradition’ and regularly fields six or seven black players in his Arsenal side.
Whilst Premiership administrators bask in the success of their anti-racism campaigns, much work remains to be done at lower levels and in non-league football, where racists convene in threatening numbers at smaller, less scrutinised venues.
Nevertheless, English football is considered an example of good practice in Europe by activists facing a grim uphill battle on the mainland. Black players are subject to hostile receptions in every league from Lisbon to Nicosia, an inevitable sporting reflection of widespread anti-immigrant venom. Even the continent’s better players are not spared. Samuel Eto’o threatened to walk out of a game at Real Zaragoza last February to demonstrate his contempt for some Spanish racists. Spurs fullback Pascal Chimbonda allegedly ran away from the French side Bastia claiming he was the victim of fan prejudice. The peerless French champion Lilian Thuram is rumoured to have turned down the chance to play for Lazio because he could not stand the notorious Fascist leanings of a section of the club’s fans.
For all Sir Alex Ferguson’s belief in football as a tool for civil progress, the sport can not remain immune to the social and political tensions that afflict European society at large. Yet, the importance of black players to Europe’s most successful clubs and the keenness of the sport’s chief executives to seek new revenue wherever it can be found, has made football a primary vehicle for social inclusion, integration and acceptance.
Hence, the eagerness of the gay rights movement to exploit Uefa’s intellectual laziness in its approach to Paul Scholes’ homophobic insult of the referee in United’s match against Benfica. Scholes called the referee a “f**king poof” after he received a yellow card during United’s victory over Benfica. This led to a short-lived but effective media blitz by prominent activist Peter Tatchell.
“If he had made a racist remark, Uefa and the Football Association would have initiated immediate disciplinary proceedings, “ Tatchell commented. “Why the double standards? We urge Paul to apologize and to express his opposition to homophobia.”
The Scholes remark was followed a week later by Rio Ferdinand’s ‘faggot’ jibe in a BBC radio interview.
“His comments highlight the fact that both clubs and the football authorities need to take homophobia much more seriously,” said Chris Basiurski, FA liaison and campaigns officer at the Gay Football Supporters’ Network (GFSN). Echoing the Tatchell line, Basiurski added: “If it had been a racist comment, he would have been in much more trouble.”
Concern at football’s intolerance of gays has been rising ever since the death of Justin Fashanu, Britain’s only big-name, self-confessed homosexual footballer, eight years ago ago.
Fashanu sent shockwaves through football when he decided to reveal his sexuality in the Sun newspaper in 1990. Brother John Fashanu, a combative striker with Wimbledon, was among the first to denounce him. “My gay brother is an outcast”, John Fashanu told readers of the black-interest Voice newspaper.
Since Fashanu’s death by suicide in 1998, newspapers have run sensational headlines about gay orgies involving Premiership players, without identifying the footballers involved. Terraces and fans’ web sites buzz with the names that would fill this information gap. Unsurprisingly, no footballer has shared Fashanu’s conviction to come out of the closet. “I think being openly gay would be something very difficult to live with in football,” said former Crystal Palace manager Alan Smith. “You can get drunk and beat up your wife and that’s quite acceptable, but if someone were to say ‘I’m gay’, it’s considered awful. It’s ridiculous.”
Just as anti racism began to win powerful support a decade ago, so the fight against homophobia is rising in profile. United are one of two clubs to take up a GFSN invitation to issue a statement condemning homophobia. Gay activists hope Ferdinand will lend his support to their efforts.
“In some ways Rio’s comments have set the campaign back,’ admitted Basiurski. “Some people still think it is a bit of a laugh but what we have got to get across is that it is every bit as serious as racism.”
Anti-racists used to look at football and see an impregnable fortress of prejudice until the walls came tumbling down 10 years ago. Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand, have helped create a better environment for black footballers in the top English league. Who will now be the player to lead the gay rights movement towards a comparable triumph? AU
© Copyright: Absolutely United 2006
