Blog 19: Sports, A society built on racism?

 

                                                        via https://sportswithjai07.blogspot.com/

The murder of George Floyd back in May 2020 has seen the leading names in the world of sports to unite and demand justice and respect and changes are underway with American football body NFL apologising for not listening to players on racism. It is becoming the symbol of defiance in the sporting world as much as high profile sportspersons have taken to the roads to join protesters in different parts of the world. Football leagues such as La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A have taken a step forward by supporting the BLACK LIVES MATTER protest. There have been plenty of incidents including the one where a number of England's footballers were racially abused back in March during the Euro 2020 qualifying win against Montenegro when Danny Rose stated that he couldn't wait for his career to come to an end to escape the constant abuse.

 
The world may be battling the Coronavirus pandemic on various fronts but for some football players like Raheem Sterling, Balotelli and Moise Kean, the only disease prevalent currently is RACISM. 
     
March 18 - Chelsea lodge a formal complaint with UEFA over racist chanting aimed at Callum Hudson-Odoi during a Europa League game at Dynamo Kyiv.

March 24 - A number of England’s players are racially abused during a Euro 2020 qualifying win in Montenegro.

April 2 - Everton striker Moise Kean, then of Juventus, was abused by sections of the Cagliari support during a Serie A match. Team-mate Leonardo Bonucci later said Kean should take “50-50” of the blame.

April 5 - England and Tottenham defender Danny Rose says he cannot wait for his career to be overdue to racism.

August 14 – Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham is targeted online after missing a penalty in a Super Cup shoot-out. Manager Frank Lampard says he is “disgusted with a so-called Chelsea fan”.

August 18 – Reading’s Yakou Meite is abused for missing a penalty.

August 19 - Manchester United condemn racist abuse aimed at Paul Pogba after he misses a penalty. Team-mate Marcus Rashford says “if you attack him, you attack us all” but is later abused himself. Pogba says he will fight racism for the “next generation”.

September 2 – Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku is abused at Cagliari, though the club denies his accusation.

Racism has taken place in the community very strongly. If you are trying to end racism, it's not enough to get people to understand that racism is still a problem. You also have to make them feel that they can do something about it. People who are the victims are not motivated and we should support them by keeping 'Yes we can' in our mind and should tackle this smartly.