Balotelli is right – players should walk off the pitch if racially abused
Friday June 29 | Video now available
Add to Calendar >
Football has been too tolerant of racism
Football. You know – the beautiful game that has the power to bring together (almost) all of humanity in a joyful expression of gentlemanly and gentlewomanly competition.
Except that this does not seem to be what’s on offer. Fans, raised to paroxysms of tribalism, throw bananas on the pitch at the Italian player, Balotelli; they still chant “yiddo, yiddo…” when their teams play Spurs a traditionally Jewish London club. And behaviour on the pitch is hardly exemplary – the man who would otherwise be the England captain is up for disciplinary hearings on charges of racism. This debate is not about whether the racism is acceptable. It isn’t. But it’s about how football – the institutions – and footballers – the people – ought to behave in the face of its regrettable presence. Is it the responsibility of the individual player to make a stand, as Balotelli has said he will? Or is that short sighted and bad tactics – if you make every simple pleasure the occasion to brow-beat miscreants into political correctness, aren’t you simply inviting a backlash? Better to leave it to the football authorities, maybe. They have a process in place. Indeed, they say they’ll sanction any player who acts autonomously. Or are they so compromised by their obscure – some would say corrupt – machinations that to talk of their social responsibility is like asking for compassion from a shoal of piranhas?
Join the Debate on our Versus page
Speakers
FOR
Femi Otitoju - Equality campaigner, founder of Challenge Consultancy
Musa Okwonga - Poet and sportswriter
Anthony Clavane - Journalist and Writer
AGAINST
Louis Saha - French international and Tottenham Hotspur footballer
Andrey Kurkov - Ukrainian Author
Philippe Auclair - Football writer and broadcaster
CHAIR
Jenni Russell - Journalist, commentator and broadcaster
WEBHOST
Liz MacKean - BBC Newsnight correspondent