A powerful gesture
Football has unfortunately at times offered a platform to racism. There have been countless incidents in many countries where players are offended because of the colour of their skin. Some fans – if we can label them as such – have often used football to express their racial hatred, and the clubs they support have been fined for such despicable actions. But this has not been enough to curb the abuse.
Over the past years, players have increasingly taken a strong position against racism in a bid to eradicate it from the sport. They have taken the knee, unfurled slogans and demanded action, but it has not changed matters much. Incidents continue to happen.
They have now taken the ultimate step.
Players of Paris St Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday walked off the pitch after the fourth official of the Champions League game, Sebastian Coltescu of Romania, was accused of using a racial term to identify one of the players.
The altercation that ensued on the touchline, broadcast around the world and appearing to be more pronounced in an empty stadium, was followed by the players refusing to continue the match, which was abandoned in the 14th minute. It was completed a day later, on Wednesday, with a new set of officials.
But at least the message has now been sent across the globe. The stand taken by the two teams in Paris is possibly the most powerful gesture as yet taken by anyone against racism in football. The organising body, UEFA, is to be applauded for sustaining the position taken by the clubs.
“The walk off by both Basaksehir and PSG together lays down a marker in Europe,” Piara Powar, executive director of the anti-discrimination Fare network, told The Associated Press. “Many players are fed up with half measures to tackle racism and are more prepared than ever to exercise their right to stop a match.”
Fare network helps UEFA prosecute discriminatory incidents like Tuesday night’s alleged abuse at the Parc des Princes.
“Our colleagues at the Romanian state anti-discrimination organisation have confirmed it is racist in Romanian to refer to a player by using his race as an identifier,” Powar said. “There is no ambiguity. This incident shows the need for much better training of match officials. Unintentional racism is still racism.
“If officials cannot set the standards by their own behaviour,” Powar said, “they cannot be relied on to deal with racism on the pitch or in the stands.”
What is expected now is that, once UEFA completes its investigation into the incident, any steps that are taken are harsh. And it should be so each and every time there is some kind of offence, be it on the pitch or from the stands.
UEFA should also make it a point to train its match officials to deal with racist situations more strictly. It has often been the case when matches continued uninterrupted even though the match officials are instructed to halt matches when racist abuse is taking place.
Football is, or should be, an inclusive sport and it should not be allowed to be used to spread hatred.