Manchester City vs. Porto: UEFA Complaint a Slap in the Face of Race Relations

On the surface, the complaints that are to be lodged against Manchester City by Porto (reported by ESPN Soccernet) are, to say the least, petty.

Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll find a shocking and highly insulting meaning behind it.

Porto's complaint stems around their Europa League match with Manchester City at the Etihad yesterday that saw them lose 4-0 and get knocked out of the competition.

Apparently, fans at the stadium chanted things such as, "You're not incredible" and "cheat" at Porto's Brazilian star striker, Hulk.

This comes after news that Porto will be charged by UEFA for last week's first leg at the Estadio do Dragao, where their fans apparently chanted racial slurs at City star Mario Balotelli.

Porto has denied the allegations of the chants, saying that their fans were not calling the Italian a monkey but rather chanting "Hulk, Hulk, Hulk" and "Kun, Kun, Kun" for their players.

While video evidence proves that some fans were in fact making monkey noises at Balotelli, I find it hard to condemn Porto (the club) for not being able to contain all of their fans (though the fans deserve some condemnation).

In light of this incident, though, the reason behind Porto's complaint to UEFA is clear and reprehensible.

I understand the club feels as though they are being wronged by UEFA and thinks that their fans did not do anything wrong, and I see why they thought to lash out against the governing body by making a cheap allegation.

However, even if their fans did not do anything wrong—which they clearly did given the video evidence—the club must understand that their fans are still being accused of bringing racism to football and its players.

By complaining about City's chants in the same manner City complained of theirs, Porto has seemingly attempted to draw a parallel between making racist chants and silly taunts.

No parallel can be drawn between such a harmless chant as "You're not incredible" (what a bad pun, by the way) and racist chanting that brews up centuries of intolerance.

Porto communications director Rui Cerqueira said of the incident yesterday, "We will take this to UEFA. It is improper behaviour. This behaviour may be normal in England but Porto want to contribute to eradicating it from sport."

This is clearly a shot at drawing another connection between the two, seeing as there are groups dedicated to "eradicating racism from sport" and the high-profile racism rows in English football this season.

Mr. Cerqueira and Porto may think they are being tongue-in-cheek and cute in trying to show that their fans were not in the wrong, but all they have succeeded in doing is proving themselves to be naive, intolerant and despicable.

It's almost certain that Porto will not be punished for lodging this complaint, but it is actually more reprehensible than the original charge.

Before this complaint, I felt for Porto because it was probably going to be punished for its fans.

Instead, they have proven that they, not their fans, are the problem.