Kick Racism out of the World Cup
The New York Times has a special World Cup insert in today's paper. Along with the usual boosterism for Bruce Arena's boys, there's an interesting piece by Jere Longman on racism in the game. In relation to the World Cup, I think it's overplayed. I can't see the sort who can afford WC ticket prices doing the "monkey grunts" in the stands and surely any player who uses racial epithets on the pitch is risking an early exit from the tournament. Still, it's a good read.
Check it out at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/sports/soccer/04racism.html?_r=1&ei=5094&en=446ea6c36a4bbad2&hp=&ex=1149393600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
posted by gatorbob @ 10:54 AM
2 Comments:
You know, I don't think the fear is that the fans in the stadia are going to go about with the monkey chants and the banners glorifying Arkan.
Rather, I think this is an 11th hour admission from the Germans that their unification with the East has worked only on the surface and that there is deeply entrenched racist and nationalist feeling in Leipzig and the rest of the East that will be a national embarrassment if it shows up. Those guys aren't likely to be inside the stadium.
Although that f****r Aragones is still the coach of Spain and he's like a crazy racist uncle ranting about this and that.
I hear you on this matter, but I still think the article overplay's it. The Times coverage has been overly negative to my mind and Longman's article is typical of it. Like the Sarah Lyall piece on Friday, it conflates the behavior of club fans with those of the national side. For example, Longman says, "Players and antiracism experts said they expected offensive behavior during the tournament, including monkey-like chanting; derisive singing; the hanging of banners that reflect neo-fascist and racist beliefs; and perhaps the tossing of bananas or banana peels, all familiar occurences during matches in Spain, Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe."
I don't. I'd be really shocked if a set of fans unfurled a fascist banner or tossed bananas on the pitch. Just because that happens during a Lazio match, doesn't mean that Italian fans behave like that. Remember that match we saw between Italy and Mexico. Those guys were impeccable. Should we really expect German fans who occasionally barrack African players for opposing sides to do monkey grunts when they've got Asamoah in their own side? I doubt it.
In the end, I'd be surprised if racism became a big media story in this World Cup. It's more likely that the issue of all the injuries may cause journos to question the length of the domestic seasons, propose mid-winter breaks, fewer games and so on. That would make more sense.
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