It’s not often a team wins 6-0 and the result isn’t the main talking point coming out of the game. Unfortunately in Sofia on Monday night, a small section of Bulgarian fans subjected black English players to racist abuse and Nazi salutes.
The burning question is whether the game should’ve been abandoned and what punishment should be handed down to Bulgaria.
Raheem Sterling, Tyrone Mings and Marcus Rashford were all subjected to monkey taunts every time they touched the ball, with Mings caught on camera bringing it to the assistant’s attention. In fairness to the officials, they acted quickly and initiated the three-step protocol to deal with these situations. An announcement was made over the PA system and the game was stopped twice in the first half.
A group of 40-50 men dressed in black were the instigators of the abuse and they left just before half time.
(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
In the second half the racist chants died down after their exit but were still audible enough, notably when Jadon Sancho came on as a substitute.
Alarmingly in his post-match interview, Bulgarian manager Krasimir Balakov claims that he didn’t hear any racist chanting and that the England fans were the ones to blame. This came after his captain made an impassioned plea to their supporters at half time to stop the racism.
The debate is now whether the England players did the right thing by staying on the pitch and finishing the game. Could they have sent a stronger message by leaving the pitch in protest? Or did staying on the pitch and winning the game 6-0 do enough to send a statement to the racists?
(Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)
Arguments can be made for both viewpoints but in this case the England players showed strength and determination to not just finish the game in the face of the vile chants directed at them, but they also put on a footballing masterclass and made the Bulgarians look amateurish in comparison.
Many pundits and racism campaigners have publicly stated that UEFA need to make an example of Bulgaria. Whether that means banning them for a period of time or making them play in empty stadiums, it’s clear that this needs to be the catalyst for change.
The fact that this is still happening in 2019 is abhorrent and needs to end immediately.
Football is the world game for a reason and is played by men and women of all races, religions and sexual preferences.
No other sport in the world has the power to champion change quite like football does and it’s up to the decision-makers to send a strong message that racism will not be tolerated.
Nick
Roar Guru
Higher ticket prices haven't solved racism in the stands in the UK. the idea that the rich are less racist than the poor is absolutely bonkers. No - they are still racist. They are just quieter.
fabian gulino
Roar Rookie
just throw out these morons out,we dont need these moron in the word game.
Kafka
Guest
The photo caption that leads this article should be given no leverage . Sadly such right wing narcissists feed their needs on such notoriety and visual representation in the media . I don’t explicitly advocate censorship just thoughtfulness about the semantic construction of an article both visually as well as a literary artefact of discursive debate.
GibbonRib
Roar Rookie
Really good post, up until the bit where you said "I personally find being called “Western Sydney Scum” by The Cove at a Sydney derby just as offensive". If that's really what you think then you don't think you get how damaging racism is. It's not just another way to wind up the opposition and get under their skin (even if the people making the noises believe it is).
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I’m not so sure about higher ticket prices eliminating the issue in epl. Many of the fans were not teenagers or young adults and had good jobs and earning good money. If anything it was policing and especially cctv that singled out troublemakers and if they were not prosecuted they were banned for long periods and it isn’t so easy to sneak in un noticed these days.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Usually the football stadium is the gathering place for right wing extremists who are also generally gang members and drug dealers in Eastern Europe. England are soft , try being a black player in their local leagues where its constant and no one stops them. The good thing about the old NSL was the racist chants were in another language. The easiest way to eliminate it is have higher ticket prices that fixed the issue in the EPL.
Hutcho
Roar Rookie
Damned if they do and damned if they don't when it comes to completing the match or not. Personally, the England team did the right thing in staying out there and standing firm in the face of this disgraceful behaviour. Couldn't have been easy for some of them though and I imagine it would be deeply upsetting for some of the younger players in that side. The Bulgarian FA at a minimum should have to play all home qualifiers for the next two major tournaments behind closed doors. Given they are repeat offenders I wouldn't shed a tear if they were banned from those competitions and their domestic sides suspended from European competitions for a couple of years. These attitudes however, go hand in hand with the rise of fascism and ultra-nationalist political parties in Bulgaria and other parts of Europe.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
The difficulty faced when dealing with this whole area is that fans don’t look at the subject the same way as administrators, governing bodies and anyone who condemns what goes on. I grew up witnessing first hand this exact behaviour in the uk. Bunches of bananas were taken inside the grounds and thrown at players such as Laurie Cunningham, Cyril Regis, Viv Anderson and others. I can vaguely remember Clyde Best and Ade Coker being abused at West Ham - and sometimes by their own fans. I saw Chelsea’s first black player Paul Canoville absolutely tortured by the fans. I’d argue that the perpetrators don’t consider themselves to be racist. They may well mix and behave perfectly well in all other aspects of their lives but at football they resort to what they see as the easiest way to get under the skin of opposition players and race is such an easy target and it works on so many levels...even by the fact that we are having to discuss it here and on plenty of other outlets across the globe. Yes it is racism, it is ugly, it exists in many places not least here in Australia and it isn’t going away anytime soon as outside of a few places there does not seem to be the desire or will to be rid of the issue. There again, I personally find being called “Western Sydney Scum” by The Cove at a Sydney derby just as offensive but it is not deemed to be the case by clubs, FFA, police or whatever - so it is just a label and a wind up - and the difference is?
Griffo
Roar Guru
While I have a little more faith than Nemesis that humans will one day remove bigotry from their collective civilisation, the news out is the Bulgarian PM put pressure on the their football president to resign (which he did). Would this now also put Bulgarian FA under pressure to be banned by FIFA for national governmental interference? Reality is that, event though it appeared to be from a small section of fans, causing all fans to miss matches due to ban might make some of them call these guys out in future. And I believe the England team were expecting it, too, so a deep seated issue in the game there.
Hutcho
Roar Rookie
Exactly right, it’s a social issue not just limited to football. And people wonder why homosexual players are hesitant to out themselves while they’re still active in sport. You are right when you say humans will always find something to hate and that’s just sad to think about
Hutcho
Roar Rookie
You’ve hit the nail on the head. Staying on the pitch and winning 6-0 sent a defiant message that racism won’t win. I’m proud of the way the players and the management handled the situation. UEFA has a real opportunity here to set an example and with the platform they currently have I hope they do just that.
Hutcho
Roar Rookie
Empty stadiums and cutting out their revenue streams seems to be the only way that they will listen. It would be a bold move by UEFA but it’s one that needs to be done. Feel for the players but it needs to stop
Nemesis
Guest
The only way to eliminate these scenes in sport is to play sport behind closed doors. Racist abuse will never be eliminated from the human psyche, because humans will always find something to hate. If it's not skin colour, it will be religion, or social differences. Racism also occurs amongst people with dark skin - your skin is too dark; or your skin is too light so you're not really part of our community. The attitudes of those who behaved appallingly in that crowd in Bulgaria is also happening all across the world at various forums; not just football. By all accounts, I wouldn't want to have dark skin and enter any of the stadiums, when the current President of the USA holds a rally. Ban the rallies?
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
I guess any semblance of plausible deniability - "it was our fans, not representative of Bulgarian football" - kinda went out the window with the managerial blame-game comments. Major probs to the Bulgarian captain for trying to intervene, though. I think staying on the field was the right thing to do. It sends a message of non deterrence, and alleviates the effect the racist fans were trying to have. Apart from the racist fans and an ignorant manager, I think football persevered through the saga today. What UEFA does from now will put a final exclamation point on this whole rubbish saga.
Hughsy
Roar Rookie
Ban Bulgaria from all competetions, including their domestic teams. Financial losses from UEFA competitions will hurt them more than banning fans.