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Tuesday April 29, 2014 will go down in history as a landmark occasion.
It’s the day the disgusting, repugnant, and racist Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was finally told his bigotry will not be tolerated.
It’s the moment when one of the world’s preeminent sports leagues said no to racism.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced Sterling, who made racist and offensive comments in a conversation with his ex-girlfriend, is banned for life and has been fined $2.5 million – the maximum penalty allowed under the NBA Constitution. The money will be donated to organisations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts.
Silver is also pushing for the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team.
The owners have the authority subject to a 3/4 vote to remove him as owner, meaning 22 of the 29 owners must vote in favour to have him booted out.
And that’s as great a certainty as Sterling never being awarded Humanitarian of the Year.
Silver, in his first Test as generalissimo and with the eyes of the world fixated on him, had the opportunity to do what many sporting bodies, including the NBA, have repeatedly failed to do.
The 52-year-old had the chance to make a stand, to tell the world ‘we cannot and will not tolerate racism and discrimination’.
He did just that.
Silver, who was working within certain limitations, went for the jugular.
He’s now put the ball in the owners’ court. Smart. We’ve already seen commentary from a number of owners admitting there’s no place for Sterling in the NBA. They won’t let Silver and the game down.
Sterling’s remarks are completely unacceptable, especially in the 21st century, where society has been widely educated regarding racism and discrimination.
And this isn’t the first time the owner of the Clippers since 1981 has found himself in hot water for his antiquated beliefs.
He has form.
Sadly, though, Silver’s predecessor, David Stern, commissioner for 30 years, tolerated Sterling’s bigotry.
With Stern at the helm the NBA never disciplined Sterling, despite a host of abhorrent acts. Not once.
Silver’s performance demonstrated outstanding leadership that’s rightly drawn enormous praise.
It was a display worthy of a standing ovation.
That’s how you say no to racism and hopefully some of the other sporting bodies were watching.
Time and again we’ve seen athletes stand up to racists, only for authorities to let them down by not following their lead and slapping offenders on the wrist with a feather.
UEFA and the European Tour are just two of the blundering bodies that have had the opportunity to make a strong statement – that racism will not be condoned.
Sadly, they both failed.
At Euro 2012, UEFA fined Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner $138,000 and banned him for one game for promoting a betting agency (Paddy Power) on the waistband of his underwear while celebrating a goal against Portugal.
As if the over-the-top sanction wasn’t enough, when you compare it to some of the fines UEFA has handed out for incidents relating to racism, it’s farcical.
The Serbian Football Federation was fined $23,000 for racially abusing England’s Nedum Onuoha at the European Under-21 Championship in the Netherlands, while Porto was also slapped with a $23,000 fine after some of its fans subjected then Manchester City striker, Mario Balotelli, to prolonged racist abuse, during a Europa League tie.
In May last year, the European Tour opted against disciplining Sergio Garcia after the Spaniard said: “We’ll have [Tiger Woods] ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken,” when asked in jest at a function whether he’d be inviting Woods to dinner during the US Open.
The NBA, Silver in particular, should be applauded. However, this can’t be a one-off. This has to become the norm, not the exception. While we can and should praise Silver, from now on matters similar to this one, and unfortunately they’ll still happen, should be dealt with instantly and without the attention surrounding Sterling’s shocking and shameful remarks. Harsh sanctions must be assumed, not wished for.
Nobody should be made to feel improper because of the colour of their skin.
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