Swansea fan charged with racially aggravated offence.
Following an incident which was swiftly and professionally dealt with by both SCFC and the local constabulary, 23 year old Swansea fan Lee Ward has been charged with a racially aggravated offence. This is the latest incident to shine a spotlight on an ugly issue, and one which, we're led to believe, is a massive problem in the game, at home and abroad. The maximum penalty which can be meted out for this is a two year custodial sentence, but I can't say I know enough about prior trials, or the actual incident, to know how this will be judged.My worry with the "racism in football" tag is it seems to detract from, for me, the main issue - racism in racists. These aren't people who are perfectly behaved the rest of the week, and suddenly turn into mindless idiots upon entering football stadiums - these are people who, for whatever backwards reasons, have their beliefs and in the loud, raucous, adrenaline-fueled environs football grounds provide, they for some reason seem to think it acceptable to abuse players - perhaps believing they will be protected by the anonymity of the crowd. I heard David Cameron talking about "racism in football" after one recent incident, and not once did he try and turn it around to point out that it's a bigger issue, and that it needs to be addressed.
Out of interest, does it seem to anyone else that playing football actually protects you? I can't think of, or find online, any examples of a footballer racially abusing someone on the field and being successfully criminally investigated for it? Fans sitting in the terraces appear to be easier targets for the real authorities, as the relevant football associations continue to hand out token bans. John Terry was famously investigated but ultimately the FA ended up punishing him and now it's supposedly hunky-dory again, and it remains to be seen how far a player would have to go before actually being charged and convicted of a racially aggravated offence.
It's long been pointed out that Nicklas Bendtner was handed a larger fine (100,000 Euros) for displaying sponsored underpants than the Serbian FA were fined for their fans racist chanting, or more recently, the 50,000 Euro fine given to Inter Milan following their fans racist abuse of Mario Balotelli - who of course used to play for Inter. Unbelievably, Balotelli was fined 10,000 Euros for putting his finger to his lips in an effort to stop the abuse. Some precedent. It's been said over and over again that football needs to get tough on these issues, and the high profile nature of the sport means a stand needs to be made to stamp it out once and for all - failing to act will only exacerbate the problem. Samuel Eto'o and Marco Zoro have both attempted to leave the field of play in the past due to the incessant abuse they were receiving, and a look at a list of the fines handed out (Telegraph Sport) for racism related offences when compared with other, seemingly less serious offences, does seem to indicate that sadly, the football authorities are still failing to act. Roberto Carlos broke down upon re-entering the dressing room after one match playing for his new club in Russia - and these are all incidents which have occurred in the last few years.
At present, the governing bodies are doling out tiny fines to massive multi-million pound businesses - who can realistically absorb any of the aforementioned figures in a one-off hit. Until the fines are increased, or an alternative found, so that the football clubs themselves are forced to act nothing will happen. Good work has been done on many, many fronts with organised campaigns like Kick It Out, however it seems the message isn't being reinforced on the terraces that racism of any form is unacceptable. I'm sure I don't have the answers, but fines in line with the gravity of the offence would be a good start.