Racism in football

[one]

I would like to see other's opinions from a refereeing view point but also as a football fan. A lot of questions but not many answers.

Is enough being done about racism in football?
What can we do as referees to help eradicate it?
Do referees have enough power to deal with it?
Do referees at various levels receive sufficient training in dealing with racism?
Is racism more prevalent in football than other sports or society in general?

Everytime I hear about or see a racism in football a little part of me tells me to step away from the sport. On the other hand I have seen the race card being used baselessly.

 

[es1]

I don't see or hear any when reffing or following man city.

There are clearly many countries where this isn't the case with plenty of (very) recent examples. At the top level in uefa and some national organisations there's clearly no appetite to do anything about it, at all.

Refs at all levels are supposedly empowered to take action mid match (whether player on player or crowd on player) however we very rarely see those actions taken (last night an example).

More clearly needs to be done but £££€€€$$$ are more important.

 

[Therealcjhill]

The authorities do absolutely nothing about racism. It’s slogans and taglines and it’s all .. I mean look at a FIFA and the pathetic fines they hand out.

 

[OIREF!]

What can we do as referees to help eradicate it?
Do referees have enough power to deal with it?
Do referees at various levels receive sufficient training in dealing with racism?

At grassroots level in my area I've seen no training or guidance at all on how to deal with racism incidents.

 

[Big Cat]

I would like to see other's opinions from a refereeing view point but also as a football fan. A lot of questions but not many answers.

Is enough being done about racism in football?
What can we do as referees to help eradicate it?
Do referees have enough power to deal with it?
Do referees at various levels receive sufficient training in dealing with racism?
Is racism more prevalent in football than other sports or society in general?

Everytime I hear about or see a racism in football a little part of me tells me to step away from the sport. On the other hand I have seen the race card being used baselessly.

300 or so games as a Ref, not encountered a single incident. Even more games as a player. Was more prevalent back in the day, but even then I can recall anything significant. Small % (vocal racists) of an infinite number of Social Media Contributors = a large number of racists however, so the vast majority of us will never hear the end of it as long as those idiots have a platform... which they will have

 

[RustyRef]

Thankfully it doesn't happen much in England these days, not saying it is eradicated completely, but compared to years gone by it is small. Players and participants know the consequences will be huge if they do it and get caught, and it has almost become self-policing in the stands, if one idiot starts it he at best gets told off, at worst other supporters point him out to stewards or police and he is ejected.

Clearly other countries still have a huge problem, including it would appear Spain. It seems there have even been suggestions that Vinicius Jr "brings it on himself" with his antics, and that shows a very alarming attitude. If he is annoying the supporters then by all means boo and jeer him, but anything thinking his behaviour entitles people to make monkey noises at him is clearly deluded.

In terms of refereeing what they are expected to do I suspect comes down to directives from the governing authority in that country. Certainly in England there is / was a set procedure for dealing with allegations of discrimination that they haven't heard or seen. Obviously if they have witnessed it they have to send off and report, but if they haven't they are supposed to take a statement after the game from both the accusing and accused player and submit this in an extraordinary incident. I got that directive as a Level 3, and I have seen it in action when observing a Level 4, although that was for alleged homophobic comments. As a Level 5 I've also followed it when a player told me an opponent had made a homophobic comment to him, but despite his obvious anger at the time he didn't come to my changing room after as I had asked him to. I still reported it though, no idea what came of it.

 

[one]

Sounds like it is more common in Australia than in England. At grassroot and lower levels of state (county), I have never witnessed it in my games but at least a couple of times a season I get complaints that a player had directed racial abuse at another. I have been involved unproven cases as an admin.

One of my sons received racial slurs directed at him twice (that I know of) in his playing times over 20 years or so. First one when he was 8 by another 8 year old. I doubt the 8 year old who said it had any idea what racial abuse means. He prob only thought he was swearing. They learn this from adult.

My other son who has stopped refereeing now was racially abused as a 16yo referees after a game by a player from the losing team (coach's son). The whole team withdrew from the comp as the result.

I must add, there are a lot of unreported incidents. Some people on the receiving end just chose to ignore it for whatever reason.

While we have similar directives in place for the referees I don't believe that they are adequate. Especially at pro level where business and money seems to be more important than human decency and player welfare. We had a case of an aboriginal AFL player (Adam Goods) being racially targeted by spectators with the league virtually ignoring it for 3 years. And some media with the attitude of if you can't handle the head get out of the kitchen. Though a couple of decades ago there where systemic racial discrimination in a club of the same code. So football is not alone in this.

At lower levels training to deal with is next to non-existence.

 

[santa sangria]

I would like to see other's opinions from a refereeing view point but also as a football fan. A lot of questions but not many answers.

Is enough being done about racism in football?
What can we do as referees to help eradicate it?
Do referees have enough power to deal with it?
Do referees at various levels receive sufficient training in dealing with racism?
Is racism more prevalent in football than other sports or society in general?

Everytime I hear about or see a racism in football a little part of me tells me to step away from the sport. On the other hand I have seen the race card being used baselessly.

Great post.

In football generally, no, as we see from Spain, not not even close.
What can referees do? Zero tolerance, no excuses, sanction according to the LotG. We do have the framework.

***Referees must file reports properly***

Do we have enough power? Yes, referees do, but leagues and associations probably do not.
Enough training? Here, we used to have an annual session with a UEFA racism specialist.
More in football than society? Varies depending on context.


I am in country with a significant refugee population where the bulk of the population is probably about 30 years behind the UK in recognising the many tropes, traditions and humorous slights are actually high offensive. Football is about in line with society sadly. What is slightly odd here is that the racism I have witnessed (and sanctioned) has been e.g. between hispanic players, between Turks and Kurds, Russians and Estonians - between various minority groups. I did have to send off a coach once for asking me if I only sent his GK because he was black (after he karate kicked a lad in the head).

My Algerian assistant was recently subject to racist abuse - but he filed a vague report with no specific wording, so there was no significant sanction. We must report properly!

One story, this makes me so proud, I well up every time... young AR started about the same time as me, got promoted ahead of me, made it quickly to the second tier, heard racist chants in the stand, told the referee, they stopped the game, followed protocol. At 19, to have the cojones to do that. And it made the papers. So proud.

 

[santa sangria]

We had a case of an aboriginal AFL player (Adam Goods) being racially targeted by spectators with the league virtually ignoring it for 3 years. And some media with the attitude of if you can't handle the head get out of the kitchen. Though a couple of decades ago there where systemic racial discrimination in a club of the same code. So football is not alone in this.

This makes me so angry.

I have a lot of thoughts questioning if I really share the same values as the "football family".
Funny money, sportswashing, gambling, racsim. All the time these are tolerated by football authorities makes me think I should be nowhere near association football.