Racist chants at Football games.

[bigdaddymentor]

That's my point; that although every country has racists, for some reason Poland is getting an incredibly bad press. A former footballer even told English fans that if they go to Poland they will come back in a coffin;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150951/Euro-2012-racism-Sol-Campbell-warns-England-fans-stay-away-BBCs-Panorama.html

England is just as guilty of racism.

Besides, although this is no explanation for what they did, in Poland, the situation ethnically is very different. I have never once seen a black person in Poland, and this is probably because there is no appeal to emigrate - poor country, no jobs etc.
It sounds weird to the English but I just don't think that the Polish are very used to seeing other ethnicities inside their own country. I mean, if you look at England's figured, 85%(1) are white - this is obviously including Polish, German, Lithuanian and many other nationalities. However, in Poland, 94%(2) are actually Polish.
Many people in Poland come from closed communities in small villages in the countryside, myself included and so, to me, it is understandable if some of the more idiotic members of the population felt intimidated.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland

 

[RachaelR]

I get abuse hurled at me (racially and generally) because of my job - rightly or wrongly it comes with the territory and I knew that when I took it....and I get paid a lot less than they do for far more risk too

This does not excuse the behaviour of the fans, but walking off doesn't solve it either

 

[Dancingstar]

Yeah I have no doubt that Poland is much more homogeneous than England is. You have a point there. Which definitely contributes to racism and xenophobia. China has much of the same problem in that respect.

 

[MiSseHeaKtHeR]

Stop right there.

I dunno where you live in Poland, but in all the "university" cities (Lodz, Krakow, Warsaw, and so on) you will see people from literally all over the world. Poland seems to be a pretty popular destination for students going on ERASMUS exchanges.

 

[LilLadyLia]

I am not a football fan,never have been and never will be.In my opinion it brings out the worst in people,almost a regression to a tribal mentality.You never seem to get this problem in any other sport,not even in boxing.If you go and play in a country that is known for racism you are going to get it by the lorry load at a football match.

 

[BARBIEDOLL]

I have been to games in Bradford, at Upton Park West Ham, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane, I have seen quite a bit of racism.

I also have friends in Krakow, Gdansk and Warsaw, what I hear from them is something quite different.

 

[MF]

Perhaps, but I don't live in one of the biggest cities. I live in Olsztyn, a medium sized city I guess, but there isn't really a big university here. I doubt all of the fans would come from a big city, where they would be more used to it.

 

[AngieZ]

For a footballer, it solves a lot of things. It shows the fans that that behaviour is not accepted, that racism is not just part and parcel. On an individual basis you can take someone to court for racial discrimination/hate speech/whatever as a footballer being yelled at by a crowd the only effective way to communicate (and punish) those handing out such abuse is to walk off and say "You act like that towards me, and I won't play for you".

The option of "taking it on the chin" while knowing that the management are not doing anything meaningful about the issue just perpetuates the racism by refusing to seriously challenge it.

 

[thebigd]

In an ideal world yes - although I have to mention that in my case I have no official recourse except "suck it up princess" - but by walking off you could potentially argue you're actually doing more to validate the racists mindset. They want you off the pitch and make you stop what you are doing. By continuing to play you show that they cannot affect you and by beating the team they (allegedly) support you prove even more

That said it is not a yes or no issue - I can see the pros and cons to both approaches.

 

[kelzy907]

You see, England and Poland aren't the same. If you went to an English Premiere League match and tried to throw a banana on the pitch, two things would happen

1) You would have the crap beaten out of you
2) You would wake up to find yourself handcuffed to the hospital bed.

England has its share of racists, but in England, the rest of us don't shrug it off as some unfortunate quirk of society.

Oh, and in England, when we find out who the racists and the hooligans are, we make sure they never get into a football stadium again.

 

[marlonduval]

The problem is that racism doesn't just get bored and go home, so the "pretend it doesn't affect you" response doesn't get the victims anywhere. Asking the players to bury their heads in the sand isn't the solution here.

You don't fight hate speech by pretending it's not there, you fight it by saying "hey, what you said IS a big deal. It DOES affect people, and we are not going to sit by and let you continue.".

 

[imrockingtheworld]

Or we (allegedly) make them the captain of the England team and (allegedly) kick other players off the team to avoid upset between them...

Personally I'd cheer if a team walked off the pitch because of racist chanting, sends a message that it's everyone's problem.

 

[Tone]

cant judge another culture by your own standards. I don't agree with racism, but in some places things are just different. but i've seen racism at soccer matches here in the usa and over in the uk.

 

[mcwboss]

I am not saying ignore it - I am saying show them you hear them and will carry on anyway.

You do not defeat hate speech by walking away either. Do you think these goons actually give two hoots about the game? Hell no - they are just harnessing their wagon to it.

The players will not change it - the fans will as will correct enforcement by the authorities

 

[WillR]

In England we have a gang of hammer wielding thugs called the UAF of which the prime minister is a founding member.Personally I find them about as appealing as the racists.They have latched onto football in the same way as C18 did in the eighties.

 

[swd521]

lol. The UAF have been acting a bit daft in the last couple of years, but to compare them to C18 is unfathomably stupid.

 

[the~maiden~xanz]

So if they aren't allowed to acknowledge and react what else can they do except ignore it? I'm waiting.



When it is part of a protest, you do. An industrial act more often than not involves "walking away". You disrupt the game and force people to make a choice between the racists and you. Either football cleans up its act or football doesn't happen. Doesn't get much more effective than that.

I think people at a football game want to see a football game and if that objective is being continually compromised by racists then people will want to do something about that. Whether they are racists or officials.



LOL Players walking of pitch gets the fans to change their behaviour and brings racism to the attention of law enforcement. The problem is that the people in charge aren't paying attention because people have spent so long telling footballers to "suck it up" and as a result law enforcement in these cases don't really bother. Nothing is going to get done unless people actually make some noise about this, and that includes footballers saying "enough is enough, I shouldn't be treated like that and expected to stand here"
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To tell the truth, I don't like football and I don't like the way the stereotypical footballer is mythologised. But what is being suggested is simply individuals taking there own "industrial action" in order to combat racism in the work-place. It boggles my mind that anyone would have a problem with this.

 

[molebee]

C18 recruited in football firms and violent elements of the UAF have the same mentality as thugs in football firms.Some people just need an outlet for violence and have little interest in the cause they are supposed to be fighting for.

 

[viper17899]

I guarantee that if games start getting abandoned as a result of racist behaviour from the crowd, the crowd will start self enforcing.

 

[Broken_Heart708]

Not only that but the police and football authorities will be forced to take the issue seriously.