racism in european football

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=451142&cc=3436

quite sad to see this still goes on in Europe...

 

I saw on Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel on the racism of European Soccer last year. It was a interesting report.

 

Yeah it's pretty bad in Europe (Germany, UK, Italy come to mind). Poland and the Dutch have some hard core hooligans as well, their motivation is not always racism but for them "any excuse" will do.

I hate to say this... but in my opinion and maybe limited experience with German soccer fans, it does tend to attract more of a "simple" crowd, alcohol and a certain group/ herd mentality do the rest. This doesn't apply to all fans of course but there are obviously enough attending these games to make it such torture for black players.
For some reason Soccer seems to be a great outlet for Nazis as well. I don't see this happening in Germany during Formula One (I guess to expensive), Ice Hockey (enough violence on the field??) or Basketball for example.

I never enjoyed going to any games really until I moved to the US. Sportsfans here are different to me, especially College games. I have never seen anything in the stands that would concern me.

 

In the US people pretty much worship athletes and black athletes are generally seen as being more gifted so they are loved - when they are on the field or on the court etc...I believe that the 'love' fades away when these guys get out on the street.

A racist will cheer for a bm, whom he wouldn't let his daughter date, if that bm catches the touchdown pass.

 

You know what Fnny I never thought about that but I completely agree with you...
I also think most Europeans are not as good about "hiding" their racism as many Americans are.

 

For a Black football fan it is mostly best to watch it on TV or with friends at a pub somewhere in Europe. The stadiums are dangerous if he goes with his White girlfriend.

 

You see the thing about Europe, America and sports; both sides of the Atlantic love sports but treat their athletes differently. Here in the United States, many people will cheer for a black wide receiver for catching the winning pass but will call him a nigger off the field and will never allow him near their daughters. In Europe, it's different. When you're disliked, you'd be disliked, period. There's no sugercoating it.

Racism and soccer go hand in hand and it isn't a new phenomenon. It's been happening since the 1960s. The worst times though, were the 1970s and 1980s. In countries such as England, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and many more, far right nationalist groups and other assorted racist thugs got together during games mainly for fights and commotion. That is when the skinhead movement got hijacked by extremists and thus, the association of skinheads with racism and xenohpobia today. The famous player John Barnes talks about racism in soccer in his memoir. Things were so bad that extreme right wing groups refused to support black players on their national teams.

However, things improved in the late 80s and early 90s and with the very successful French World Cup winning team of 1998 and Euro 2000 (which were very diverse), multiculturalism has been accepted in soccer. Of course there has been a sudden renaissance of racism in recent years and players like Ryan Giggs, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho have joined the campaign to combat it. Yet, UEFA and FIFA continue to play lip service. I honestly think Samuel Eto's suggestion would work - his suggestion is that in an incident of racial taunts, all the black players should just walk off the field in protest, regardless of retribution. I think that'll work because when a number of teams miss key players, lose games and pressure FIFA, they'll take action.

However, most teams for the most part are pretty decent and can tolerate black players , especially English teams. In fact, English teams are some of the most diverse in the world of soccer which is great, of course.

 

For those interested, I came across this interview today with a UEFA rep

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/q-a-fighting-racism-in-european-soccer/

 

Danke Chigirl loved the info.

 

Well it started in Europe so it isn't a surprise it continues in Europe.

 

Hey hey, not all is bad in soccer. Soccer players have really scored:

 

Where did you find those pics probmwf?

And yes, you're right that it isn't as bad as you would think. Included in that list of people you posted would also be the infamous Danielle Lloyd and Marcus Bent.