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When football stops being the beautiful game
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
20th April, 2009
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Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
20th April, 2009
14
1853 Reads
Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring, during the Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Inter Milan at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, Saturday, April 18 2009. AP Photo/Alberto Ramella

Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring, during the Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Inter Milan at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, Saturday, April 18 2009. AP Photo/Alberto Ramella

It’s happened again. Racism has reared its ugly head at another football match in Europe. This time it was Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli who was at the receiving end of disgraceful chants from Juventus supporters.

To make matters worse (if that’s possible), Balotelli, the son of Ghanaian parents, is only 18 years old. A young Italian abused by his own countrymen.

As a Juventus supporter, I am ashamed. As a football lover, I am appalled. And as a human being, I am disgusted.

But am I surprised? Not in the least.

The names and place may have changed but the story is the same.

This incident happened at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, but it may as well have been at Fratton Park.

So I await lame condemnations from FIFA and UEFA, just like we saw in those other incidents.

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Juve’s power brokers have already had their say, with Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigl noting: “In the name of Juventus and the majority of its fans, I express condemnation for the racist chanting directed at Inter player Mario Balotelli.

“There are no excuses and no justification for that behaviour. Episodes like this are unacceptable.”

Strong words, certainly, but without significant action they mean nothing. It’s rhetoric as empty as Bluetongue Stadium for an Asian Champions League game.

So why do we allow this to go on?

Certainly, the social landscape in large parts of the world is less accepting than in Australia. But that doesn’t mean action shouldn’t be taken.

Whether it’s being docked points, expulsion from continental competition, or another strong measure, clubs and national teams need to be punished.

Personally, I think teams whose fans make such actions should have a number of their home games moved to a neutral venue. Any gate takings from that game should then be donated to charity.

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The worst bit of all is that FIFA once acted on this.

In March 2006, the world body’s general secretary, Urs Linsi, sent a letter to member football associations which said, “FIFA has always taken its role in combating discrimination of any kind very seriously. Despite this there has been a surge in discriminating gestures and language at matches. The FIFA executive committee therefore decided … to impose harsher sanctions.”

Those sanctions included a three-point deduction for the racist actions of “any player, official or spectator”.

However, at the FIFA congress in Sydney last year, and with little fuss or noise made, those sanctions were overturned.

The new disciplinary code absolves member associations of any specific responsibility for the actions of fans, restricting that to “players and/or officials”.

So now we await the condemnations, the empty words, and the weak punishment.

But in my eyes the sad truth is clear: while FIFA refuses to take a stand against prejudice, it forfeits the right for football to be called the beautiful game.

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