Race issues within the Beautiful game.

Its ugly head has reared over the last couple of weeks, with allegations pending over Luis Suarez, John Terry and then there’s Sepp Blatter’s ludicrous comments…racism in football.

Growing up in the capital as a young Black man people did tend to give me a slightly bewildered look when I tell them who I supported; they were typically expecting me to say Arsenal as they do possess a large Black fan-base, but I’ve been going over to Upton Park for many years now and I’m glad to say I’ve never experienced any problems; I can’t speak for other clubs but I do feel there’s a real sense of family at the Boleyn Ground; with the Claret and Blue draped around you no other colour seems to matter.

I’m a young(ish) man at the age of 25 so I must admit I never witnessed what it was like for Black players in England when racism was a prevalent problem, when Neanderthals would chuck bananas at their fellow man. But after doing a little research I’m heartened that during such a time my own club embraced and adored Bermudan striker Clyde Best who was recently quoted in an article describing the relationship he enjoyed with the Hammers faithful at a time when he experienced racism from opposition fans on a regular basis: “I never had any trouble with the West Ham fans. All I felt from them was love. East End people are good people and they will always love somebody who gives their all.” Not exactly succinct with the portrayal of the typical West Ham fan portrayed by Alf Garnett’s character in Till death do us part.

On a broader note the gloomy spectre of racism in football has come back to the fore-front. Sepp Blatter’s ridiculous comments about how racism on the pitch should be forgotten about with a hand-shake is indicative of those within the ivory tower governing the global game. I ask you is a £34,000 fine really enough for the monkey chants aimed at England’s Black players? Such a lax punishment is surely no deterrent for other such incidents which always seem to occur when the national team ventures into the realms of Eastern Europe.

Whilst I would say the vile monkey chants aimed at Black players in certain countries is indicative of a social problem couldn’t we use the global game to not only combat it but educate? Instead of handing out paltry and rather pathetic fines couldn’t UEFA instead insist upon the Bulgarian FA taking some responsibility in educating the fans of their national team? Perhaps a 5 minute video shown before each international in the stadium about the horrors racism has inflicted upon this world from slavery and apartheid to the holocaust. As the global game surely we can use its influence in the battle against ignorance and bigotry.

I am at a loss at how Sepp Blatter could cling onto his position as football’s head honcho but I was heartened by the barracking he received in good old Albion; the rest of the world seemed to treat Blatter’s comments with a disturbing indifference, but here in England journalists, current and ex-players and pundits were queuing up to deride the president of FIFA. I must admit I felt proud of the way we in this country didn’t stand idly by and dismiss the comments as ‘taken out of context’ but instead questioned the words uttered by a man who is so out of touch with football it’s a miracle he doesn’t refer to it as ‘soccer’ The response in this country was proof if any was needed that we have come a long way. Permit me to sound like a ‘little Englander’ for a moment but surely UEFA and FIFA should be banging down the door of our FA to look at how we have so successfully tackled this problem. This country took a comprehensive look at the issue of racism within the game and society in general for that matter and through a series of well thought out strategies and initiatives we were able to almost completely eradicate this issue. I’m astounded that the governing bodies of the world’s game and for that matter countries such as those within Eastern Europe or even the European and World Champions Spain haven’t sought guidance from our shores.

I’m still staggered that in 2011 the melanin content of one’s skin is still such a prevalent issue, and I must admit I do despair when the head of the world game decrees racism on the pitch should be forgotten about with a hearty hand-shake. The recent events involving Terry, Suarez and Blatter unfortunately show there is still an ugly and rather sinister side to the beautiful game.

Until the day finally arrives that we all recognise each other as human beings and treat race as an irrelevance I fear that under-current will always linger beneath the surface.