Recently, there have been two incidents in the Barclays Premier League that have lead hopefuls like me to believe that although instances of racism in this beautiful game are far from over, there is hope that soccer is winning the battle against racism. On Oct. 15, 2011, Liverpool played Manchester United in a 1-1 draw at Anfield. After this match, Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was accused by the English Football Association of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and was promptly handed an eight-match ban and a 40,000 pound fine (approximately $62,000).
Although harsh, the punishment delivered by the Football Association was a necessary step to help eradicate the consistent racism seen in soccer today. By giving arguably Liverpool’s most important player an eight-game ban, the FA made a statement that they were not going to tolerate racism of any sort. Even though the FA technically only had Evra’s word to go on, they still made a decision that they were going to punish any racist comments.
In a country that worships and pampers footballers to a disgusting level, the John Terry race incident has shown the world that the FA is not afraid of anybody. Queens Park Rangers played a match against Chelsea on October 23rd, video footage captured Chelsea and England captain John Terry spouting racist abuse to QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. Terry, quick not to get in any further trouble by not responding, immediately came out saying, “People have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying.”
Terry, who was previously arrested for attacking a young woman in a nightclub and sleeping with the ex-girlfriend of England teammate Wayne Bridge, is due to face criminal charges for racist behavior in a London courthouse. Considering that Terry holds a coveted position as both England and Chelsea captain, his actions were shocking. Terry, having been given such an amazing privilege, consistently spits in the face of fans with his horrifying behavior.
The FA should be applauded for taking such drastic measures in their fight against racism. Based on the evidence, Terry should receive a more extreme punishment than Suarez. At the least, he should be stripped of his Chelsea and England captaincy.
However, all is not well in England. On Jan. 6, Liverpool hosted Oldham in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Although Liverpool won the game 5-1, the game will not be remembered for the score line, but yet another unfortunate act of racism. A racially charged insult at Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi by a Liverpool spectator left the 20-year old in tears.
Unfortunately, there will be more incidents of racism in English soccer, but with the two big decisions the FA took in the past few months to stamp out racism, there is hope.
