Tightening screws on racism in Spain

10/15/08
soccer
By Max J. Dickstein

Tightening screws on racism in Spain

With their lustrous display at Euro 2008, Spain showed that they are far ahead of the field in soccer. But as recent events have shown, Spain’s efforts to eliminate racism from the game are still light years behind.

On Tuesday, the city of Madrid once again became a flashpoint in Europe’s seemingly perpetual battle against racism in the stands when UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, imposed a two-match home ban on Spanish club Atletico Madrid. The penalty came after myriad incidents at their stadium — monkey chants and racist slurs directed at black players and journalists, among other general violence — marred their Champions League match against Marseille on Oct. 1.

The punishment is the harshest yet for a race-related incident from either UEFA or FIFA, two organizations notorious for their inability to back talk with action regarding racial abuse. It’s clear now that the practice of fining a federation or club, which they mind-bogglingly never diverged from until this week, does not work.

In September, for example, after fans aimed monkey chants at English player Emile Heskey at a match at Zagreb, FIFA fined the Croatian Football Federation a paltry $25,000. Heskey and his teammates afterward ridiculed the weakness of the gesture.

On Monday, the English Football Association announced its reluctance to play a February 2009 friendly against Spain in Madrid because of their experience in the city in 2004, when the team’s black players were subjected to racist taunts from the crowd. That incident earned Spain a measly $90,000 fine.

The stadium ban, then, represents an important first step toward a more proactive stance against racism. And if this tactic does not work, then point deductions for teams with abusive fans must seriously be considered.

Amid all this, certain Spanish players still cannot grasp the big picture, bemoaning the penalties this week instead of condemning the behaviors that brought them about.

Fernando Torres, for example, was distressed that he would not be able to return to the stadium of his old club if Liverpool and Atletico’s Champions League clash next week is moved to a neutral site. “It is the worst and most unexpected news that I could have heard,” Torres told the sports paper Marca on Tuesday.

Perhaps he had not heard the news of why the game was being moved in the first place.

— Andrew Keh
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Tightening screws on racism in Spain

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