In almost every major country and smaller ones like Malaysia,
racism in sport rears its ugly head.
According to the Gulf News Opinion (4 April 2019), Juventus striker Moise Kean was subjected to racist abuse
after scoring a late goal against Cagliari in Serie A. One would have expected
universal condemnation. But both the Juve captain and coach pinned half the
blame on Moise Kean. This sort of political correctness cannot be justified at
any cost. When it comes to racial abuse, there is no 50-50. Racism is just
unacceptable.
In the Barclays Premier League (according to the Independent, 8 Feb 2019), it is the “Kick Out” campaign
and Lord Ouseley, the campaign chairman expressed the lack of consultation by
the League. “Those with power do not exercise their responsibilities in the way
that will help deal with this problem”. Instant action is what is required.
In
Malaysia, Kpah Sherman, PKNS’ top scorer faced racial monkey chants from fans
(Star, 20 September).
He
has been called “b--i” and “f--k you monkey” by players as well. The FAM wants
a report. “Kalau tak ada laporan, kami tak boleh ambil tindakan”. That’s civil
service mentality. But “We are serious about combating racism in football” said
FAM secretary general, Stuart Ramalingam.
What
can we do? Ignorance, fear and superiority (like the Nazis) breed people with
reprehensible behaviour. Unless we are serious with the following steps, we
will tolerate racism in sport like the haze from Indonesia:
(i)
have a campaign to stop racial abuse;
(ii)
identify fans in the stands and require them to leave the stadium and face a
life-time ban;
(iii)
referees must stop the game and remove players and/or fans from the stadium;
(iv)
to abandon the game, and re-play in a closed stadium;
(v)
for players abused to leave the game non-violently and not face any action from
authorities.
There
could be many more steps especially in areas of education and enforcement.
Hopefully, we could create a better society that cares for everyone, local or
foreign, black, brown or white.
Reference:
2.
Kick It Out criticise Premier League and demand ‘instant action’ and
‘responsible leadership’ to tackle racism, Independent, 8 Feb 2019
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