Oct 22
Things aren’t always Black & White, Rio
Racism. It just won’t go away will it. The game of football is currently blighted by incidents of racism both on and off the pitch.
In my view none of the accused in the highest profile cases over the last 12 months have a leg to stand on despite their best, and frankly hard faced, efforts.
Luis Suarez (you know what you are) repeatedly racially abused Patrice Evra and no amount of cultural difference arguments will ever convince me otherwise. Rightly so he was punished heavily in terms of suspension (8 games) but given a fairly lightweight fine of approximately £45k. The case was dealt with swiftly and put to bed by mid December a mere 2 months later, job done, well done The FA (for a change).
Just eight days after that incident, John Terry was clearly seen to racially abuse Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road in a bad tempered London Derby between QPR and Chelsea but Twelve months on and the now lengthy case had been adjourned and delayed but finally Terry was lawfully found ‘Not Guilty’ (where ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’ could obviously not be concluded) but thankfully The Football Association did sanction Terry punishing him with the heaviest fine they’ve ever issued – £220k – but coupled it with a somewhat lenient 4 game ban.
Firstly, how the two cases can conclude with entirely opposite outcomes in terms of one having a larger fine and smaller suspension (& vice-versa) is beyond me, surely the offences are similar in vein and worthy of proportional punishment? Hit them both with games; money means almost nothing to these people and the clubs would take it far more seriously.
The players’ respective clubs both failed to react in appropriate ways during and after the cases too. In Suarez’s case the shocking decision to allow or recommend the players to don t-shirts in defence of him was comical at best, ill-advised possibly, but more widely agreed; shocking.
In Chelsea’s case they’re showing their support for the player by allowing Terry to continue as club captain despite issuing him with their own record fine.
So, what’s all this got to do with a Manchester United Blog regardless of Evra’s association in the original incident?
That’s the exact question that beg’s the question why Rio Ferdinand felt the need to publicly go against the wishes of his boss by choosing not to wear the anti-racism T-Shirt for Kick It Out before United’s match against Stoke City on Saturday. He, along with United during the Evra affair, behaved impeccably and hardly batted an eyelid in comparison when the Suarez case was ongoing, so why the burning desire now?
Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not in any way suggesting Ferdinand should keep his opinions to himself or that he’s wrong to make his feelings known or make a point in an attempt to rid the game of its obvious problem or for feeling further aggrieved due to his brothers involvement, far from it. However, I believe there’s a time and a place for every protest and that wasn’t it.
On Thursday Sir Alex went on record when questioned about Jason Roberts’ statement of intent not to wear the t-shirt saying he thought “everyone should stick together on this” and “it would be the wrong thing to do” [not wear it]. Once he’s said that, Rio Ferdinand (or any other player at the club for that matter) has absolutely no way of not conforming purely on the basis that, at some time in our professional lives, we have to adhere to our employers wishes weather we like it or not, it’s that simple.
Rio could and should have taken the decision to administer his protest at a later date, at a time more suitable. We’re talking about Rio ‘Choc-Ice Remark’ Ferdinand here, the guy’s hardly been at the forefront of the Kick It Out campaign to my knowledge despite being part of it, so why the sudden, irresistible urge to stand up?
Wear the t-shirt, play the game, move on to Monday then publicly and vehemently begin your campaign to improve the original campaign or build one of your own that’s bigger and better with more impact with other players and sporting or celebrity figures included for the good of all involved. What’s difficult about that?
Instead, Rio foolishly in my opinion, chose to risk derailing his clubs ambitions and internal stability for the sake of 48hrs and some cheap publicity. With Rio’s undoubted influence within the entire club at all levels from the canteen staff right the way through the Academy lads and the first team dressing room, his actions have the ability to create huge tensions and divides amongst all if he wishes. How chuffed then would Mssrs Terry and Suarez be, not to mention their respective clubs and fans? Was the risk worth taking at that time?
Rio will be understandably pissed right off with his treatment by the FA and England management etc, pissed off his little brother’s been racially attacked and pissed off racism seems to be on the increase rather than diminishing, but still, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Where does it leave Rio now?
I’m glad United are not ramping up the issue by fining Rio (or at least I don’t think they are at time of writing this), that would be the wrong thing to do, but I am glad Sir Alex didn’t fudge the issue when quizzed. What a position to find yourself in thanks to someone with the experience to know better and the benefit of having been previously backed in the past. Poor decision Rio, poor decision.
Related items from Red Rants:
The_Philosopher (404)
Redrich (220)
Opti (208)
Moscow (147)
Stephen (147)
Answer: Rio ‘Choc-ice’ Ferdinand
Can I get a Denmark shirt instead
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The irony is that Rio’s ‘Choc-ice remark’ is probably the most racist of all them.
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I think every player has a right to join or leave some “campaign” against what not. Who cares? If Rooney decided to leave some cancer-fighting organization because he deemed it ill-run, why shouldn’t he be able to leave without criticism?
Kick It Out has been around for at least a decade (judging from CM/FM intros), yet is the problem of racism in football improving and how much of it is due to KIO? Just because some organization is able to weasle themselves into The FA schedule, doesn’t mean every player should have to agree, especially if these issues are political/social in nature: it’s called freedom of expression on those topics.
Let’s say they want to tame racism in football, then FAs + UEFA + FIFA must have *standard* tough repercussions to player and fan racism; otherwise, it’s for naught. For example:
If a player makes racist remarks: 8 game ban + 25% monthly salary fine
If fans make racist chants during game:
(i) First offense, play 3 home games with closed doors + fine for club
(ii) Second offense, play 10 home games behind closed doors + kicked out of continental tournaments + fine + set up workshops to combat racism locally.
(iii) Every other time, revoke ability to enter continental tournaments for 3 years + work-shops + transfer ban
I am pretty sure that these fines would stamp out racism, but FAs and UEFA would suffer as a business… that’s why their responses over the past 20 years have been inept: no financial incentive to punish top stars, so they walk between rain-drops [Terry] while smaller guys get heavier punishments to make “examples” (Luis Suarez and other small clubs).
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@Opti: While I agree that the Rio’s topic is blown out of proportion I wish I could share your optimizism about ability to stamp out racisim in football if FIFA/UEFA wage a focused effort with stiff penalties against offending parties.
Racism in football is not an isolated phenomenon. Neither is it a residual of the past. It is rather a reflection of increasingly global trend of rising tribalism with racism as one of many conflicts it brings. The thing is that this anti-racism campaign represents a narrowly defined view greatly influenced by painful past of colonialism and racial discrimination in Western countries and long history of efforts to cure these ailments. It is not to say that this view is wrong just to point out the fact the majority of earth population neither shares nor embraces this view. This majority is driven by tribalism with its racial, ethnic and religious intolerance. Western countries may try really hard to promote elimination of racism driven not in a small part by their guilt complex but the question really is how long they can survive in this uphill battle with the rising global tribalism. What we are experiencing today is just a sneak preview of what is to follow. Imagine Europe 50-100 years from now with white population in minority and newly established majority enforcing their tribal rules not constrained by centuries of enlightenment and social development. And all years of upheaval that led to this new Europe.
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As far as I’m concerned, Fergie and Rio are both right. Fergie was right to say that the campaign against racism must be supported, whether carried on Kick It Out or whoever else for them, and Rio is probably right when he claims that the FA and Kick It Out aren’t doing enough to eradicate racism from football. The way I see it had Rio’s comments had an aura of constructive criticism to them, they’d have been far more appreciated.
The point that many have missed though, is the way United have reacted to the issue. As Ian correctly pointed out, Liverpool embarrassed themselves with those pathetic t-shirts and Chelsea have kept their racist captain in charge. Fergie, on the other hand, kept the fuss to a minimum saying that “Rio will be dealt with.” The fact that the media up and down the country are up in arms about what he said tell you he’s done the right thing.
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Answer: Rio Ferdinand
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Answer for the question: Rio Ferdinand
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Mmmmmm racism is a very sensitive issue. The choc-ice tweet which Rio laughed at was clearly racist, so is racism solely one way? I will say The Sun newspaper when we were playing Germany in the World Cup were extremely racist towards the Germans, but the attitude is hey that is Ok they are German?! In this Country we have moved on light years from the 80′s when Mark Walters and other black players where abused and pelted with bananas. This makes me shudder at the thought of it, but with the FA, Liverpool and Chelsea taking an alleged “zero tolerance” stand this clearly isn’t the case is it? Liverpool’s disgraceful support of Suarez and Chelsea’s of Terry is a clear case of this. Chelsea should have stripped Terry of the captaincy and both players should have served at least a 10 game ban. The fines are also relative to their own income, the Liverpool players being paid £45k a week and Terry amazingly £220k.
If Rio is now considering starting a “black” players union surely that is setting us all back 20 years, for me this again shows tribalism and not moving football or society forward. The FA were up in arms about Serbia and rightly so, but lied about the reasons why Rio was dropped for England, “footballing reasons” really?! No it was Terry or Rio, they went with Terry.
The answer is Rio…
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@Stephen: You won a T-Shirt mate. Email me your size requirements and I’ll give you the good or the bad news!
Send your address too.
Well Done
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@Ian: Woohoo!!!! I have never won anything in my life!! I am going to get number 7, Moscow put on the back of it!! Thanks!!!
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