Giving racism its marching orders

Although it has received plenty of attention for many years, racism still plagues certain sports.

No sport is immune, but some appear to attract racist and xenophobic behaviour more than others.

Football is the sport with most obvious difficulties. The English and German football leagues have been trying to stamp out racist slurs and chants, but ugly incidents continue to happen. Just last month the English Football Association announced that it would be investigating allegations of islamophobic abuse by Newcastle United fans of the Middlesborough striker Mido.

But football is not the only sport to have suffered such incidents. Racism in rugby has been a problem in South Africa but of late has also been creeping into games in Europe.

Sports with big appeal such as basketball have had similar problems and even niche sports have had to confront the issue. Darren Graham, a Protestant who plays the traditional Irish games of hurling and Gaelic football, publicly announced he was quitting both games following years of sectarian abuse from the mostly Catholic crowds and players. Following a promise to stamp out the problem by the sports’ governing body, the Gaelic Athletic Association, Graham has returned to the game.

Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) says that the willingness of a governing body to get involved in addressing the problem is crucial and that explains why racism continues to be a problem in football in Spain and Italy.

"Unfortunately we don’t have the football associations in Spain and Italy onside with our campaign. It’s difficult to say why. As a first step they don’t accept there is a problem and mix it up with the problem of violence," says Michael Fanizadeh, spokesman for FARE.

In contrast FARE works closely with football associations in central and eastern Europe and in the Balkans, where racism had become a problem. By organising awareness-raising events and working with clubs, FARE says that it has had some success in tackling racism.

The group welcomes the inclusion in the European Commission’s white paper on sport of a section on racism. The Commission commits itself to working with FARE to "promote dialogue and exchange of best practice". It also intends to strengthen co-operation between sporting organisations and police forces, to develop ways to work with fans and look at the possibility of bringing forward legislation at EU level.

FARE would like to see the Commission develop a manual for member states of guidelines for addressing racism and put pressure on countries such as Italy and Spain whose football associations are reluctant to sign up to FARE campaigns against racism. FARE also wants the Commission help fund its activities and campaigns so that it can get its message out to more people.

But Fanizadeh says it is not enough to have the main football governing bodies and football associations on board - the commitment of the legislators is also required. "We need the politicians on board since they are the ones involved in drafting legislation and forming education policy," he says.

Although it has received plenty of attention for many years, racism still plagues certain sports.