Premier League football is once again embroiled in a controversy over racial slurs and the continued absence of any punishment for offending players as England continues to be resoundingly split over the issue.
You wouldn’t catch a person wearing a black armband saying anything negative about black people but in this situation the opposition and many of their fans are outraged.
This is not a football problem – the problem is the impunity of those who used to think they could do whatever they wanted to black players for racial reasons. The English football authorities have taken strong steps over the years to police it, and there is still a hard law on the books – Section 61 – which could result in a player being banned from a ground, whatever their position on the pitch.
The Premier League has recently introduced a 48-hour period of suspension for racial abuse and clearly football does play a part here and should be approached with a sense of urgency.
I’ve played football for more than 30 years and I will say that I think there are a number of poor individuals who are part of the problem here. They reflect the game – probably the majority – which is maybe more to do with respect than racism in general.
No player, no matter what their race, religion or sex or disability, should be subject to racism in any sport, but sadly that’s not the case. In football we have to look at the bigger picture and remind ourselves that there is a huge difference between being offended by this behaviour and doing something about it.
The players, though, need to take personal responsibility for showing the fans, media and themselves that they are above this type of behaviour. They don’t need a whip-round to do that because that is already part of the ethos of the game.
On the field it has to be separated out from the whole business. When Steven Gerrard gave a demonstration of being footballers of integrity and broke away from the group to demonstrate, you needed to applaud and give him a cheer.
Kenny Dalglish was annoyed at this (well it was his manager’s name that had been shouted out, he was making a gesture – twice) but on the pitch he should have remained in his own area. Some other players left to help and that was their own choice but if a player walks away from his own team to show respect he should get a deserved pat on the back. It is his body language. This is part of what makes sport so special – that we are all the same in this respect.