BRASIL SAY NO TO RACISM AT THE FIFA WORLD CUP
FIFA, UN and Brasilian officials are doing everything they can to stamp out racism for the upcoming World Cup in Brasil.
For too long we have seen players subjected to scrutiny from opposing fans for the colour of their skin or their background.
One of the more recent disgusting cases I still struggle to watch is the racist taunts and abuse Mario Balotelli copped in AC Milan’s clash with Napoli in the Serie A. Balotelli was brought to tears as he walked over to the bench which resulted in a social media out poor.
There’s no doubt the Italian league is one of the worst when it comes to racism but we are constantly seeing instances like these occur all over the world.
Just this weekend Sydney FC’s Ali Abbas was subjected to racist remarks by a Western Sydney Wanderers player. For this to happen in a multicultural country like Australia is just wrong… This comes a week after Ali Abbas was part of a ‘Erase Racism Round’ campaign for the A-League.
“We are not here to attack religion or culture, we are here to play football,” he said. “I come from a different country, I respect everyone here. I should get it back,” Abbas said.
Home nation for the World Cup- Brasil is another country who are under scrutiny due to racism at games.
Former footballing stars around the world are also behind Brasil’s campaign to cut out racism. Brasilian and Santos midfielder Arouca has also been a victim of racism in the last month. He has urged for a no tolerance policy during the world cup and is backing FIFA ‘s stand against racism.
“It’s lamentable and unacceptable that there is still room for this kind of thing today…It killed the happiness I felt over our team’s good performance in which I scored a nice goal, which should be what the sport is all about,” said Arouca.
It is good to see the Brasilian President also taking a stand against Racism for the World Cup.
“We are going to take on racism. We have agreed with the UN and FIFA that this will be a World Cup against racism.” said Brasilian President Dilma Rousseff.
As a writer and a lifelong football fan I can not stand anything more than racism in football. The players walk out onto the pitch week in week out for the love of the game, the supporters and to entertain the fans. If a minority of fans want to subject players to this type of behaviour then they don’t deserve the right to attend games.
Fans all around the world need to come together as one and do their best to stand up and stamp out racism as we approach one of the greatest anticipated World Cup’s in years.
