Racism
in football is a matter of concern. It is a worldwide problem that occurs on
and off the pitch. It is seen and heard in the vast majority of countries, in
some on a smaller scale, in some on a much wider scale. And although there have
been attempts to abolish it, with organizations such as “Let’s Kick Racism out
of Football” and “Show Racism the Red Card” doing their upmost best, the issue
just won’t dissipate.
Argentina
is a nation that oozes football. The passion for the game is mind-blowing, one
of the greatest derbies in the world is played here at least four times a year,
if we include the not-so-important but nonetheless passionate Summer Cups,
being River vs. Boca. It’s at the height of the Everton vs. Liverpool, Roma vs.
Lazio, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Rangers vs. Celtic, Panathinaikos vs
Olympiakos, PSG vs. Marseille, Ajax vs. Feyenoord derbies. All these derbies
are filled with hatred and the Argentine derby is not one to be taken lightly. The
build-up to the match weeks before, the colour, the flags, the drums, the
singing and the outrageous racist chants are all part of this “Superclasico”.
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| River vs Boca |
Racist
chants are very common in Latin countries, unlike in the UK where everything is
being done to abolish racism on and off the pitch. Here, in Argentina, however,
little is being done. Only recently, while watching a River vs. Boca Summer Cup
match, one could hear the River Plate supporters chanting “They are all from
Bolivia and Paraguay”. It is extremely degrading, in Argentina, to call someone
a Bolivian or Paraguayan, due to economic limitations, skin colour. The
referee, when hearing these chants, decides to stop the match until the
chanting ceases, when the chanting ceases the match restarts, when the match
restarts so do the chants. Here’s when a typical trait of an Argentine is seen.
The referee, instead of ending or stopping the match again says to the players
and people in charge: “There’s nothing I can do about it, let’s carry on.” So
the match goes on, the flags wave, the drums beat and the outrageous racist
chants continue, all for the love of the game. It is part of the culture and
something that will take time, if ever, to change.
The
English Football League now has more foreigners than ever before, players come
and go from different countries across the globe and not only have to adapt to
a different style of play but also have to adapt to a different style of life,
with the cultural and traditional ideologies that come with it. This takes
time, sometimes quite a while. The fans have also had to adapt and that is also
taking time - who can forget the banana peels thrown at John Barnes in 1987 - we
seemed to have moved so far on since then, but it is still something very
difficult to abolish. Recently, in the
UK, there have been two on-field racist incidents: the Suarez-Evra and the
Terry-Ferdinand affairs both in October 2011. And though these were both
similar they were both very different too. In the Terry-Ferdinand affair both
players were English, they both know what was said and what wasn’t and in what
context the words were used, therefore being a much easier case to study. On
the other hand we have a Uruguayan and a Frenchman. By fact the word “negro” (black)
used by Suarez to Evra, in Latin countries means “mate”, not always in a
friendly way, but nothing more than that. Extracts from Suarez’s new book “Crossing
the Line – My Story” show how the Uruguayan felt and still feels about this
dilemma and ongoing situation. He said: “Did I use the Spanish word
"negro" in an argument that took place, in Spanish, with Patrice Evra
on 15 October 2011 in a game between Liverpool and Manchester United? Yes. Is
the word "negro" the same in Spanish as it is in English? No,
absolutely not. Am I a racist? No, absolutely not.”
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| Suarez and Evra |
Suarez
comes from a background of controversial incidents which made it all the more
easy to punish him. Suarez has had dark-skinned teammates, dark-skinned family
and friends. It is very hard to believe he would use the word in a derogatory
sense. He went on to say: “As I am now fully aware (and I did not even know
this at the time), in English there is a word that is spelled the same way but
is pronounced differently and it is highly offensive: negro, pronounced
nee-gro. Negro (pronounced neh-gro) in Spanish means "black", nothing
more.”
Moreover,
when the punishment came to an end and Liverpool played against Manchester
United with Suarez on one side and Evra on the other there was the hand-shake
incident. Now, I wonder, if I were the victim of racial abuse I would never
want to shake hands with the perpetrator of such offense and, if, let’s say, I
was falsely accused of racially abusing someone I definitely wouldn’t shake
hands with the person accusing me of it.
The
footballing world is all for the abolishment of racism, a utopic matter in the
times we live in. Cultural differences and ideologies must be taken into
account for each and every incident thus understanding why and in what context
the words are being said.
I
have often been called “negrito” by people in the streets in Argentina and I’m white,
should I take this as an offense? Should I consider it an ironic joke? Or
should I take it as it is? Part of the culture.
For more information
regarding anti-racism organizations in football, visit:
www.kickitout.org
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