Racism in Football: 6 Steps the FA, FIFA and UEFA Should Take Immediately

No national or international footballing body is doing more to tackle racism than the Football Association (FA). And yet it's not enough.

Football is alienating people from all walks of life through a number of issues, but it is also losing traditional supporters for the same reasons.

The issues that people are most vocal about are diving and the obscenity of the money involved. Sadly few British Caucasian people are reacting as angrily or demanding action against racism as black players are.

The answers to all of these problems lie firmly within the grasp of the FA, UEFA and FIFA. They already have the powers, but so far they lack the courage and conviction to deal with any of them adequately.

Before we get to the meat of the article, let's consider briefly how the other issues should be dealt with, because they could be simply resolved.

Football is now driven by money, and the amounts involved are obscene. Some Premier League players earn six times the British annual average wage—every week. That goes against all common values and decency, especially in the worst global financial crisis in 80 years.

The solutions are simple: The Premier League should bring in salary caps immediately and implement Financial Fair Play rules in England from the start of next season.

As for diving, start a "Dodgy Dives" Panel next week and ban anyone for three weeks if they are found to be guilty of simulation. The problem would be solved within a month.

So what, you might ask, has this got to do with racism?

Actually, plenty. If the footballing authorities haven't the courage to stamp out things like this, even after FIFA vowed to stamp out simulation in 2002 after the Rivaldo incident, how on Earth are they going to deal adequately with the insidious blight that is racism?

Racism won't kill the game, but it could cause a permanent schism.

Every one of the aforementioned footballing authorities claims to have a "zero tolerance" policy against racism and racial abuse.

Frankly, the track record of even the FA is laughable, but for UEFA it is derisory. The FA has only recently appointed a token woman to its board, who just happens to be a token black as well. How does that help when so many FA employees and all the senior personnel are white?

How on Earth can anyone take seriously the FA's stance on racism when it took a year to set up an FA tribunal to deal with the John Terry case? And when the case was proven "on the balance of probabilities," Terry only got a four-match ban.

How can that be equated with Luis Suarez getting an eight-match ban?

Players and managers alike have protested that racism isn't the issue it was years ago in English football, but there are now laws against racism and racial abuse in the UK. Also, there is the highest proportion of black players in the Premier League ever.

One instance of racism or racial abuse in the Premier League is one too many. And sadly, judging by the Twitter and bulletin board responses to the above cases, racial enmity is alive and kicking among far too many people who call themselves football fans.

When Suarez was sanctioned, for example, there were so-called football supporters bemoaning the fact that he got a heavier punishment than some footballers get for violence or leg-breaking tackles.

That is a measure of the challenge facing the authorities. When a player from a certain club gets abused or commits abuse, there is no shortage of support from the team's fans. But the sanctimonious clamour of Caucasian fans dies down, and there is no real follow-through.

I even feel guilty writing about it now, because apart from having close friends who have been racially abused, I cannot possibly know what it feels like. Not just to be abused, but to grow up my whole life being made to feel like a second-class citizen in my own country.

What I do know, however, is that unless the pious words and "grandstanding" of the footballing authorities are backed up by heavily punitive measures, we shall still be in this situation—or one worse than this—in 10 years' time.

Banning for a Year

An independent FA tribunal found John Terry guilty of racial abuse against Anton Ferdinand. 

Summarising the findings, The Telegraph noted the panel's conclusions:

"

On the balance of probabilities, that there is no credible basis for Mr. Terry's defence that his use of the words "******* black ****" were directed at Ferdinand by way of forceful rejection and/or inquiry.

Instead, we are quite satisfied, and find on the balance of probabilities, that the offending words were said by way of insult. We are able to arrive at that decision without needing to make any adverse findings against Mr. Terry arising out of his decision not to give evidence.

There are then further aspects of Mr. Terry's defence that the Commission finds improbable, implausible and contrived, and which serve to underline and reinforce our decision.

"

Now, some people find it convenient to hide behind an English Court finding Terry not guilty. The burden of proof is different, however. In the FA tribunal, it is "on the balance of probabilities" and in court "proven beyond reasonable doubt."

So, if Terry was not guilty, why did he not appeal the FA decision? Why did the Chelsea Board not only say, "Chelsea Football Club believes John Terry has made the correct decision by not appealing against the FA judgment," but also impose their own punishment on him as well?

Anyhow, the matter has been laid to rest, although many were stunned that Terry kept the Chelsea captaincy.

The Suarez and Terry incidents have passed, but the best way to ensure that such an incident will never happen again is if the FA changes its tariff of punishment for racial abuse and publishes it as soon as possible.

The next time such a case is proven against a player, it should carry an automatic one-year ban.

And Referees Too

Mark Clattenburg had a 'mare.

Let's hope that a possible formal complaint against him for "inappropriate language" isn't just posturing.

It is not clear yet what Chelsea's specific complaints are, because they are now to be the matter of an FA investigation. 

If they include racial abuse, this is a very serious matter. 

Referees in football are subject to abuse that is not tolerated in other sports. Rugby players address the referee as "Sir." Nobody utters a tirade of foul and abusive language like that which has at times been heard or lip-read in Premier League matches.

Players are supposed to "respect" referees, and while players surrounding them seems to have largely disappeared, some still clearly use abusive language.

If a referee did the same, it would surely be picked up on their mikes, which connect them to the other three officials. Maybe it is time for the mikes to be open to the public, as well as is the case in other sports?

While Chelsea have not yet lodged a formal complaint, the Metropolitan Police are taking the matter seriously.

Clattenburg has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, but he has been "stood down" for the time being. His three fellow officials don't seem to have heard anything. The PFA has asked the FA to take swift action rather than have this matter also drag on for weeks or months.

Let's be clear, however: Whether or not referees are treated with less respect in football than other sports, we are entitled to expect a high standard of behaviour on and off the pitch; otherwise, the game is in serious trouble.

If Clattenburg (or any referee) were to be found guilty of racial abuse, they should be banned from the game for life.

UEFA Should Ban the Serbian Under-21s from All Competition for a Year

Danny Rose is a decent lad. Nobody is defending his kicking the ball into the crowd in anger, but few people could possibly understand what it was like to go through the ritual and repeated abuse he suffered against the Serbian Under-21s.

Furthermore, players and officials were bombarded with missiles, and at least five Serbian players were involved in a brawl.

The thing is, the Serbians have "previous." And so does UEFA. The latter supposedly have a "zero tolerance" policy against racism and racial abuse, but the largest fine they have ever handed out to a club or country is £34,230 against the Bulgarian FA for monkey chants against English players.

Meanwhile, they fined Nicklas Bendtner £80,000 for unauthorised advertising on his pants.

The FA have registered a formal complaint with Michel Platini and UEFA, and there appears to have been more than enough national and independent officials present to provide the necessary evidence.

If the policy really is zero tolerance, it is time for UEFA to take a harsh stand; otherwise, these incidents will continue or even proliferate. If they don't, then they simply don't understand.

UEFA should ban the Serbian Under-21 team from all international competition for one year.

Referees or Managers Should Be Empowered To Take Players Off

As Heather Rabbatts, the FA's black board member, has said, "We have a long way to go". Not just in England, but across the world.

Serbian football has an unenviable history in other respects.

There is an independent UEFA official at every UEFA competition. Are people deaf and/or blind? If it is clear to players on the pitch and their coaches that abuse is pouring out of the stands, it must be clear to the officials, too.

There have been occasions in the past when referees have led players off the pitch. UEFA should authorise independent officials and referees to take the players off the pitch if even one player is subject to racial abuse, especially if it is accompanied by missiles being thrown.

It is only through such actions as these that the point will eventually get over. 

Sepp Blatter Should Abdicate

Sepp Blatter is the President of FIFA. He has so far done little to stamp out corruption in FIFA. He can't make a decision on goal-line technology, even when his beloved Germany are on the wrong end of a decision.

So, what chance have we that FIFA, world football's governing body, will set an example on racial abuse?

Well, frankly, none as long as Blatter is so astonishingly naive. He thinks such matters should be settled with a handshake afterwards.

Paul Hayward is one of the most respected sports writers in England. On October 18, he published an open letter to Platini to do something to finally, properly address racism and racial abuse in football after the Serbian Under-21 debacle.

The significance of this is not just that it reflects a wide and growing anger in the English game that the world football leaders are doing nothing of any note to attempt to cauterise the canker that is rotting the game.

It is also because Blatter is hopefully stepping down from the FIFA presidency next year, and Platini is the favourite to succeed him.

Blatter has been a joke for years. Platini has universal respect...at the moment. He also played for a country that has had more than its share of black players "naturalised" or descended from former French black colonies.

UEFA is a law unto itself for European football, but it stands under the FIFA umbrella in the global game. If Platini were to take the toughest possible action against Serbia now, it would put down a marker across world football and would be a platform that he could take into the presidential role.

As long as Blatter is president, nothing of any note will be done. With a multitude of black nations affiliated to FIFA, it is difficult to see how Platini would fail to get a mandate for action.

The sooner Blatter goes, the better.

FIFA Must Stop Pussyfooting with National Football Federations

In 2008, the FA complained about racial abuse, specifically "monkey chants" against Emile Heskey.

FIFA fined the Croatian Football Federation £15,000.

If you think racial abuse is exaggerated or overplayed, take 10 minutes of your life to watch this video. What is called racial abuse is, to put it bluntly, colour prejudice. Black players are frequently likened to monkeys.

If your child, husband, brother or father were being routinely and ritually abused, you would do something about it. The correct approach in a civilised society is to take it up with the authorities. And that is what national bodies and club officials have done over and over again. To what avail?

Frankly, the punishments handed out to national or club bodies are so farcically minuscule that they are an insult in themselves. The examples cited earlier in the Telegraph article show how little UEFA or FIFA really care about this ritual human abuse.

In England, if a fan is proven to have racially abused a player, he is banned from football grounds for life.

In 2004, England played a friendly in Madrid, and their black players were subject to abuse. The Spanish FA was fined £44,750. But when their national coach, Luis Aragones, called Thierry Henry a "black s***" only three months later, he was fined a paltry £2,000 and kept his job.

Racial abuse remains rife in the world game, as the video shows. It is still rife in Spain. In June of this year, Mario Balotelli was subject to "vile abuse," and like so many players before him, he threatened to walk off.

Despite the Spanish FA having apologised to the English players in 2004 for the racial abuse, nothing material has been done to curb it.

In 2006, a Spanish government panel advised referees to stop or suspend games if players experienced abuse.

In truth, Spain isn't the only country where this takes place. Many countries in Eastern Europe have a similar problem, as the earlier Telegraph article highlighted.

It is all too easily explained away by suggestions of "cultural or social problems." These may indeed exist, but racial abuse is tarnishing world football to the extent that it is in danger of losing credibility.

If the national, European and world bodies cannot handle the buffoonery of theatrical diving, if they cannot see that financial obscenity is damaging the game, surely they can't see the deep humanitarian problems inherent in racial abuse.

When football lovers are deserting the game because they are sick and tired of cheating, greed and the ritual abuse of fellow human beings, the game that we love is seriously at risk.

World cycling has been hit by threatened withdrawals of sponsorship because of drug-taking. Top football clubs and players have massive sponsorship deals. How long will it be before sponsors threaten to withdraw because of damage to their brands by association with abusive behaviour?

Sadly, the FA hasn't covered itself in glory with the way it has dealt with UEFA and FIFA in the recent past. But the FA is undoubtedly taking a lead in trying to stamp out the insidious practice of racial abuse.

If Clattenburg is found guilty, his punishment will reverberate around world football, not just England. It is to be hoped that he is innocent; referees struggle for respect as it is.

There can be no doubt that the FA is shortly going to up the ante in terms of punishing racial abuse in the English game. They have lobbied UEFA to take appropriately strong action against the Serbian FA.

If the past is anything to go by, don't hold your breath, but with all that has happened recently, there is a window of opportunity for UEFA to take a lead in world football's attitude to racial abuse. If Platini is elected as FIFA's president next year, he can take that approach all the way to the top and maybe change things for all time.