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Podcast Script: Racism in Football

Podcast Script: Racism in Football

Hey everyone, this is Maria John, and today I will be talking about racism in football. Football is an internationally cherished game. Its power to unite often surpasses other sports but we cannot ignore its power to divide as well. This game rules the hearts and minds of millions around the world. At one hand, they are driven by the positive message of respect and tolerance the game has to offer, on the other hand, the game also becomes a focal point of racism and xenophobia.

Though, football does not preach racism, it has grown into being the game's paramount problem. It is an issue which football cannot afford to sideline. Racist behaviours can be observed in three main areas; in the grounds, on the streets and online. The incidents related to football game impose more impact than just the game played within the ground. Recent disturbing events reported during the 2012 European Championship hosted by Ukraine and Poland; bring the sharp difference between the players' experiences playing in the UK with those playing in other parts of Europe. Racist abuses and racist chanting were seen during the championship. But the actions taken against the offending individuals and other national football authorities are quite encouraging.

There is a common perception that racism is not as widespread as it used to be. 'Show Racism' the charity asserts that the problem still exists. The charity says that despite great work done by the football clubs, lack of immediate action or condemnation right after an incident undermines those actions. Their research says that both the players and officials dismiss racial accusation by saying “we know him, he is not racist” or “what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch”. Many incidents that recently happened in UK and other parts of the world show that the problem still persists, despite many actions and measures taken to fight racism in football. An important Italian sports newspaper summed up an investigation by the discouraging results on the expansion of racism in the stadiums. In 2011, articles containing the word football and racism were 91 in 2012. This rose to 212 in 2013.

In the two years, 195 racist incidents were recorded in Poland and Ukraine while the two nations were preparing the European Championship. With 9.6% of the players called into question said he was the victim at least once of racism or discrimination. Of these acts 65.3% was ascribed to discrimination by the fans. In the Czech Republic over one-third of the players reported abuse and inequality. The countries most affected are England, Russia, Czech Republic, Croatia and Serbia and not by chance. The black players in Russia are often the subject of fruit throwing by the stadium crowds and Zenith St. Petersburg, one of the biggest clubs in Russia, on the December 2012 came up with this statement: "The absence of black players is an important tradition". This is highly racist and discriminatory, and that too ...