There is no end to the discussion of racial discrimination against some people of different skin color, religion, belief, race, or even some physical characteristics. Recent years have witnessed dozens of incidents in football stadiums alone, and dozens of cases in other sports stadiums. It is an old scourge and a psychological and societal disease that is renewed every year, without finding radical solutions to it, despite the strenuous attempts by international and national organizations and federations to reduce it.
There is no doubt that the sport of football has become polluted with racism more than any other team or individual sport, and it has lost the joy it gives to the hearts of the players and its fans because of the outgoing cheers. moral. Despite efforts to eradicate racism, many players have been implicated in it throughout history in Europe, and its intensity has varied from one decade to another. Dark-skinned players are often exposed to forms of racism.
Incidents are not new, but they are expanding, and many observers remember the famous incident of Spanish coach Luis Aragones in 2004; When he was revealed talking to Thierry Henry's colleague at Arsenal, Jose Antonio Reyes, he said, "Give him the ball, then make that damned black see you and realize that you are better than him." This incident caused a sensation in the British media, which demanded the dismissal of Aragones from office.
Even Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian player in the Liverpool team, and the owner of well-known fame, was also not spared from racism, despite the achievements he achieved for his team. A video spread on social media of Chelsea fans singing at a train station, “Mohamed Salah is a terrorist bomber!” Although the Spanish Real Madrid player, Vinicius Junior, is 20 years old, he was subjected to racist abuse on several separate occasions this year; Whether from fans or players.
And the England national team’s match against its Bulgarian host in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, which ended with the victory of the “Three Lions” team 6-0, turned into an arena for racism and political chants by a group of fans of the host country, as a group of fans launched monkey sounds and performed the Nazi salute, which is This caused the match to stop twice.
Football protection
For its part, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) is trying, with all its might, to reduce the phenomenon of racist abuse of players through social media. And there is cooperation on the part of (FIFA) with the International Federation of Professional Footballers (Fifpro), to combat hate speech on social media.
"It is our duty to protect football, and this begins with protecting the players who, by playing football, bring so much joy and happiness to all of us," said Swiss FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He added, “Unfortunately, there is a growing trend of unacceptable comments directed at players, coaches, match officials and teams on social media channels, and this form of discrimination, like any other form of discrimination, has no place in football.”
He explained, "In addition to what is being monitored on social media in addition to what is already being monitored inside the stadiums, we want to take action and not be content with words, so we are taking concrete measures to address the problem directly." Indicating that the aim of this effort is not only to protect football and avoid the harmful effects of these offensive comments, but also to educate future generations who participate in football activities on social media as well as on the field.
The penalties, which are limited to competitions and tournaments affiliated with the International Federation of Football Associations, provide for a partial ban on fans who practice racist violations, and the penalty is doubled, to deduction of points or exclusion from competitions, if discriminatory behavior is repeated.
Fahad Saleh (Jeddah) @fahadoof_s