Prime Minister David Cameron has involved himself in football’s recent racism scandals, announcing his own plans to get rid of the problem once and for all at the launch of an anti-discrimination project at Downing Street.
Cameron revealed that he has given the FA a two-month deadline to come up with a scheme for tackling the apparent increase in racist incidents within the English game; an indication of just how seriously the issue is being taken at all levels of the game and beyond.
The Prime Minister, while concerned about individual cases, was more worried about the impact that racist behaviour on the football pitch would have on the streets, adding that many young people are influenced by the behaviour of their footballing idols; even if that behaviour is unacceptable and discriminatory. Cameron added that football has the potential to affect people’s opinions and behaviour for the better, and that the FA should not miss their opportunity to take a stand on the racism issue.
English football has been hit by a series of high-profile racism scandals in recent months, most notably the cases of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Chelsea and England captain John Terry. Suarez recently served an eight-match band for racially abusing the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, but the incident was back in the headlines recently, when Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand before the two sides played each other.
Despite his somewhat reluctant apology in the aftermath of the furore caused by the missed handshake, the story refuses to go away; those old combatants Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson have been trading veiled insults in the tabloid press ever since. Ferguson’s comment that if Suarez had been a United player he would have sold him rather than keep such a disruptive influence at the club provoked a particularly strong reaction from the Liverpool boss.
Meanwhile, Terry faces a criminal trial in July on a charge over allegations he racially abused QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. The decision by the FA to temporarily replace him as England captain, until the result of the trial was known, led to the resignation of England coach Fabio Capello, only a few months before the Euro 2012 competition in Poland and the Ukraine.
The results of the FA inquiry into racism in English football and how to tackle it will have been published before Terry goes to court – but the 25-year-old defender can expect serious consequences within the game of he is found guilty, with some pundits even calling for him to be dropped from the England squad altogether.
The eight-match ban imposed on Suarez, the longest ever for this kind of offence, has made it clear that the FA is taking the problem seriously, and is prepared to take action even against some of the biggest names in the sport if they racially abuse another player.
It is unclear what the FA will propose when they speak to the Prime Minister in two months’ time; most anti-racism initiatives in the game have been aimed at the terraces and preventing racial abuse from fans, but it seems that David Bernstein and his FA colleagues may need to look a little closer to home when it comes to developing their next anti-discrimination scheme.
Spurs footballing star Emmanuel Adebayor recently celebrated his 28th birthday in a London club called Aura.
