Then in the second half, Emmanual Adebayor replaced Higuin up front for Real Madrid. At first, I thought I was hearing things but after turning up the TV and sitting quietly I knew I wasn't. This wasn't my imagination, I really was hearing monkey chants. In the year 2011 when the United States of America has a black President and some of the World biggest stars are people of colour, the ignorance of some people still continues to shock and disgust me.
As an Arsenal fan, I'm not a lover of Adebayor but I would not wish that kind of bile on my worst enemy. No person should ever have to suffer abuse because of their heritage, sexuality or sex. It is not acceptable and it should not be tolerated.
Luckily in England it happens very rarely and if it does the bigot is usually given a lifetime ban from the club. But in other parts of Europe this continues to be a regular occurance. The problem for me is that when it does occur FIFA and UEFA do too little about it. Either it is brushed under the carpet or the club/country is given a paltry fine. An amount so small it wouldn't even cover a weeks wages of the average player.
If they are supposed to be the masters/ the headteachers of all things football; how can they allow such things to continue?
They preach of their commitment to diversity within this beautiful game yet they ignore events such as this. If Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini feel they deserve their seats at football's top table, this is the time for them to prove it. Create a clear set of rules and punishments - should the club/country allow it to continue - to keep this ignorant hatred from spoiling our games.
The Kick Racism out of Football campaign has been going strong in this country and I am proud to say I have not seen or heard any of this filth while watching football. Maybe that is why there are so many foreign players in the UK compared to other countries. Because we welcome everyone with open arms and judge them by their person, not by their colour.
If other countries did the same, imagine how great our wonderful game would be.
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