MADRID (AP) — Hanging from a highway bridge in Madrid, an effigy by one of the world’s most famous black footballers is a graphic reminder of the racism sweeping European football.
In truth, the signs are everywhere.
In Italy, where monkey songs swirled around the stadium in April, as a black player celebrated a goal. In England, where a banana peel thrown by a hostile crowd during a match in north London, he landed at the feet of a black player after scoring a penalty. In France, where black players on the men’s national team were targeted by horrible racial abuse online after their defeat in the World Cup final last year.
Get out of Europe and you’ll find them too.
In Australia, where there were monkey noises and fascist chants during last year’s Australian Cup final. In South America, where matches in the continent’s biggest competition, the Copa Libertadores, were marred by monkey chants. In North Africa, where black players from visiting sub-Saharan African teams have complained of being the target of racist chants from Arab fans.
Hanging from a road bridge in Madrid, an effigy of one of the world’s most famous black footballers – Vinicius Junior – is a graphic reminder of the racism plaguing European football. AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports.
A manifestation of a deeper societal problem, racism is a decades-old problem in football – primarily in Europe but seen all over the world – that has been amplified by the reach of social media and people’s growing willingness to denounce. And to think that only 11 years ago, Sepp Blatter, then president of FIFA, football’s governing body, denied the existence of any racism in the sport, saying that there was no racism in it. sport. abuse should be resolved with a handshake.
The black player currently subjected to the most vicious, relentless and highly publicized racist insults is Vinícius Júnior, a 22 year old Brazilian who plays for Real Madrid, arguably the most successful football team in Europe.
It was around the neck of an effigy of Vinícius that a rope was tied and the figure was suspended from a viaduct near the Madrid training ground in the Spanish capital in January. It was Vinícius who, perhaps two weeks ago a defining incident for the Spanish match, broke down in tears during a match after confronting a fan who called him a monkey and made monkey gestures.
It is Vinícius who emerges as the main black voice in the fight against racism, which continues to tarnish the most popular sport in the world.
“I have a purpose in life,” he said on Twitter, “and if I have to continue to suffer so that future generations don’t have to experience these kinds of situations, I am ready and prepared. “
Vinícius’ biggest concern is that Spanish football authorities are doing little to stop the abuse, leading to racism being an accepted part of the game in a country
Indeed, federations around the world have been too slow – in some cases, apparently reluctant – to equip themselves with the power to sanction teams for the racist behavior of their supporters, although FIFA has given him permission to do so since 2013.
Almonds ? Of course. Partial stadium closures? ALL RIGHT. But more severe sanctions, such as point deductions or expulsions from competitions? They are usually reserved for issues such as financial mismanagement and not racist abuse against players.
The result is frustration and a feeling of helplessness among black players and those who want to protect them. Asked what he expects to happen after the Vinícius incident, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti replied: “Nothing. Because this has happened many times and nothing happens.
Anti-racist campaigns and slogans are well received, but they are increasingly seen as tokenism, particularly when the fines handed out to clubs or federations for racial abuse by supporters are often so pitiful.
Take for example the 2012 juxtaposition of European governing body UEFA fining the Spanish soccer federation $25,000 for fans directing racist abuse against a black player from Italy during the European Championship, with, around the same time, a Danish player being fined five times as much. amount for revealing underwear with a bookmaker’s name on it.
Experts believe that global outrage, widespread reaction and an outpouring of support for Vinícius following his latest abuses could mark a a turning point in the fight against racism in Spain. This certainly struck a chord in Brazil, where there were Demonstrations in front of the Spanish consulate in Sao Paulowhile the Spanish league now seeks to increase its authority to impose sanctions. Until now, its protocol has been to detect and report incidents and pass the evidence to the courts, where cases are usually filed.
Jacco van Sterkenburg, professor of race, inclusion and communication in football and media at Erasmus University Rotterdam, said explicit racism in stadiums is more accepted and normalized in some parts of football culture Spanish and southern Europe than in places like England and the Netherlands, where the media, former players and football federations have openly addressed the issue.
“If you as a football association do not take a strong stance against this phenomenon and repeat this message again and again, it will reappear,” Van Sterkenburg said in a video call. “We have to repeat the message that this is not allowed, this is not accepted.”
“When nothing happens, you should still repeat this message. Some clubs have implemented programs in which they repeat the message, even when nothing is happening. This sets the standard, permanently.
Jermaine Scott, an assistant professor of history at Florida Atlantic University, told the AP that while overt racism is no longer a recurring problem in mainstream American sports, institutional racism is very evident, as evidenced by lack of coaches and executives in the sports landscape who are black, indigenous or of color. He also notes this same institutional racism in European football.
For Scott, a player like Vinícius could be in contradiction with the values of European football.
“As football has spread across the world, different cultures have appropriated the game and instilled different values, such as creativity and innovation, and above all, joy, and some would even say freedom,” Scott said.
“So when a player like Viní Jr. plays in the classic Afro-Brazilian style, accompanied by samba celebrations, it disrupts the value system of European football, which has historically disciplined those who question those value systems. “
Football needs outside help to combat racism and is getting it from anti-discrimination campaigners such as Deport him to Britain And LICRA in France. The Fare Network, a pan-European group set up to combat discrimination in football, place of undercover observers in crowds during Europe’s biggest matches to detect racist chants and extremist symbols on banners.
Fans are also increasingly likely to raise awareness of racist incidents by reporting them to federations and campaign groups or by posting videos and photos on social media, with these materials often used by authorities as evidence to punish supporters. authors.
Then again, the growth of social media has its downsides when it comes to the amplification of racist abuse in football compared to previous generations, where it was mostly limited to inside stadiums.
NOW, people can shout racist insults on their phone anonymously, directly on the accounts of the world’s best players on Instagram and Twitter. This leads to the paradox of footballers, wanting to promote their brands, using the same platforms on which they are abused.
As for the black players themselves, some — like Vinícius and others like Samuel Eto’o, Mario Balotelli And Romelu Lukaku – denounce abuse when they witness it, with the intention of leading the fight against racism. It’s something Paul Canoville, target of racist insults as first black player for English club Chelsea
“They should say something right away,” Canoville said of the black players. “That wasn’t the case at the time and I had to learn from that. This is something I teach emerging players now.
Van Sterkenburg and Scott said increased education and harsher punishments were essential to the ongoing fight to eradicate racism. This is also the opinion of a former World Cup winner who played in Spain and suffered similar abuse to Vinícius.
“Racism is ingrained, it’s something that people are used to, it’s something that is passed down from one generation to the next,” said the player, who declined to be named because his current employer does not allow him to give interviews.
“People think it’s normal, something that’s not bad, so it’s hard to fight against it. And we can’t even say that this is something that will improve over time, because it was the same thing decades ago and nothing has changed.”
___
Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden.
___
More AP football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer And https://twitter.com/AP_Sports