My dear old thing, much of what you say is right, I just have no faith in the FA to do anything other than pay lip service to any problem. Remember when it said our fans got involved in violence in Slovakia (was it Slovakia?) because they were outraged by the racism of the locals? Do me a chuffin favour! The FA are self seeking bureaucrats, and care about racism only to the extent it harms the game. I have seen hardly any abuse at the Blues, the gyppo chant is a regular though and individuals will think nothing of abusing a players nationality, if not his race. Likewise I would not intervene, but then I don't see why I should, it's a stewarding and policing issue. Brum is a very tolerant place anyway, the situation is much worse elsewhere, particularly lower in the league. The morons may be made by society, not football, but it is only at the football they feel free to behave in such an openly anti social way. Not just in terms of racism, but generally. Behaviour which just wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else is accepted at football. I cringe when I see reports of well behaved England fans who enjoy themselves rather than fight, invariably accompanied by pictures of large groups of white males baring their torsos and singing I would rather be a paki than a turk, or somesuch, in some foreign square. Football fans are praised for acting in a way that would be found unacceptable, or exteremely distasteful, in any other context, which is why the point is germane to football.
Starfucker, speak for yourself. I am not a racist, and I do care. Do not try and excuse your own ignorance by tarring everyone else with it.
Buddha, thats great that you think so...
squealy said: i_cola is my new hero, sorry wc2002. ;-) squealy, I have no idea why a well-thought-out, coherent argument with copious supporting material would make i_cola your new hero. You brummy bog bandit! Arrrrrrrrr!
I missed StarFucker's "contribution" when I posted, but what FB said. I don't remember the FA saying that our fans got involved in violence because of the racism of the Slovakians but it does seem fairly ludicrous. Having said that, I haven't followed England abroad and have no intention of doing so. My opinion of the FA is, I'd suspect, no higher than yours. Stewarding needs to be tightened and the police need to actually attempt to enforce the laws in place forbidding racial abuse (which is of course the original subject of this thread, but a rare case of actual action AFAIK). I'd really like to see what other countries are actually doing to adress this, rather than propaganda that appears to have little effect. Racism has no place in football. I just don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do about it.
