The Persistent Racism in Football

The police and West Ham are investigating a video in which a supporter can apparently be heard aiming Islamophobic abuse at Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah at the London Stadium on Monday. The incident was captured in a video posted on Twitter and the alleged abuse appeared to occur as Salah took a corner during the first half of the 1-1 draw. In the footage, recorded in a home area of the ground, someone is heard shouting “Salah, you fucking Muslim, fucking Muslim cunt” at the Egyptian forward.  Kick It Out, football’s anti-discrimination charity expressed its dismay at “yet another high-profile incident of discrimination in English football”.  The Metropolitan police said they were aware of the video and in the process of reviewing the footage from the Premier League match.

Football racism and violence have decreased considerably during the 1990s through appropriate legislation such as the Football Offences Act (1991) which made racist chanting unlawful. However, racist chanting has not completely disappeared and much current abuse is linked to players from different nations resulting in many still feeling intimidated. Institutionalized racism plays a large part in reducing prospects for footballing recruits from different and highly stereotyped nations.

Racism in association football has been most studied in the European Union and Russia, although racist incidents have been reported abroad. In response to racist incidents at association football matches, in May 2013, FIFA, the international governing body of association football, announced new measures to deal with racism in the sport.

In October 2018 Antonio Rüdiger, the victim of racist abuse stated that authorities needed to do more to deal with racism in the sport. Racism came in the form of letters, chanting from the crowds, banana throwing, monkey chanting, songs, and not just one or two but thousands singing racial abuse, chants, that kind of stuff, and
letters through the post. I remember one time I got picked to play for England for the first time, and I got a letter saying that if I actually stepped onto Wembley park I would get a bullet through the knees, and there was a bullet in the letter as well, wrapped up in cotton wool. (Cyrille Regis, ex-West Bromwich Albion  and England striker, 1998).

‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ campaign at the start of the 1993/94 football season, the issue of racism has had a high profile within the game. The development of anti-racist programmes has been but one a feature of football in the last ten years, during which time the sport 1 has undergone profound changes.

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