FOOTBALL4GOOD MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2019

The scenes are ugly and becoming far too familiar. A game is taking place. It could be in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania. Play stops. A player is agitated, frustrated. He pushes away his teammates. He points to the refer- ee. He points to the stands, his expression a mixture of anger and disbelief. Monkey chants rain down from the terraces. Tears roll down his face. He storms off the field. Pandemonium ensues. If you’re paying any attention to top-level men’s football in 2019 you will have most likely seen an incident like this at least once this year, whether during a live game or on the news. Maybe more than once. Maybe several times. It seems like almost every week in Europe a game is interrupted due to racist chanting from the stands. In the Netherlands, a second division game was halt- ed last November after racially loaded chanting and a Nazi salute from an FC Den Bosch fan in the stands aimed at Excelsior player Ahmad Mendes Moreira. The player left the pitch in tears. The week before in Ukraine, Brazilian player Taison was racially abused by Dynamo Kiev fans. Overflowing with frustration and anger he picked the ball up and booted it into the Dynamo fans’ section of the crowd, giving them the middle finger in the process before storming off. Romelu Lukaku, Mario Balotelli, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Moise Kean, Kalidou Koulibaly are just a handful of high-profile inter- national footballers who have been victims of racist abuse at football matches in Europe in 2019. At lower levels of the game there are even more incidents. Fare operates an observer scheme, which monitors discrimination in stadiums around Europe, we also keep a log of incidents taking place across the world. Our data shows that, in Italy for example, more than 20 major incidents of dis- crimination involving Serie A clubs have taken place in top level football over the past year alone. But why is racism in football so prominent again in football in 2019? Why does the problem seem to be getting worse? We know there are complex reasons for this. The rise of populist and far-right politics across Europe is one factor, the things some politicians and govern- ments are saying about minorities, about migration, the future identity of their country, it all infects the public discourse and has a direct impact. Over the past five years western Europe, North America and Oceania have seen an increase of 320% in attacks committed by far-right extremists. WHY, IN THE YEAR 2019, IS RACISM SUCH AN ISSUE IN FOOTBALL? BY PIARA POWAR Add to that a growing sense of social unease, with poverty, inequality, cli- mate change all creating anxiety and fear. And when people see rapid change around them and do not understand what is happening they are more open to simplistic solutions that blame those they see as outsiders. Under-represented minorities are an easy target. Incidents of racism today are louder and receive more media coverage than they once did. Social media helps to highlight abuse and discrimination in foot- ball, but is also an extra outlet for discrimination and racism to take place. It’s never been easier to directly target black and minority footballers – simply pick up your phone and type out a hateful tweet or direct message. Players are losing faith in the ability of governing bodies to protect them from discrimination and are now taking more direct action. Regulation needs to be tougher, more consistent and clearer. “I just can’t wait to see the back of football, seeing how things are done in the game at the minute,” said Tottenham Hotspur player Danny Rose earlier this year, referencing the lack of action against racism as one of his main reasons why. Vincent Kompany recently pointed out the lack of diversity in leadership positions across football, when he said, “Real racism lies in the fact that none of these insti- tutions have representatives that can actually understand… That’s the real issue. “On boards in most places there is a problem with diversity in places of power and in board rooms. If you don’t have that diversity then you can’t have the right decisions in terms of sanctions, it’s as simple as that.” Social media companies must also take greater responsibility and act quicker to clamp down on hate speech, and ban perpetrators from accessing their platforms. As it is, a vacuum exists allowing online trolls to target black and minority players with little fear of punishment aside from a temporary suspen- sion of their account. The answers to these issues exist, Fare is just coming out of a period of activities through the #FootballPeople weeks in which we addressed 150,00 people directly on educational, engagement and knowledge sharing activities. Millions more joined in and welcomed the message of inclusion, equality and diversity. There are many others within our network that are doing the same. The question of solu- tions to the problem football is facing is not the lack of ideas but a lack of will. The future of football must be as a safe space for everybody – where women, ethnic minorities and LGBT+ people play football without fear of discrimina- tion. Allowing exclusion to win is not an option. PIARA POWAR is the Executive Director of the Fare network, an umbrella organisation active in 40+ countries that brings together individuals, informal groups and organisations driven to combat inequality in football and use the sport as a means for social change. 34 35 FOOTBALL4GOODMAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2019