UEFA racism ‘inaction’ given red card

Date: 31/10/02

By Paul Gallagher

MEPS have branded action by UEFA, European football's governing body, to tackle the growing rise of racism in Europe as inadequate.

Black players have come under a torrent of abuse in recent weeks.

Dutch club PSV Eindhoven was fined l14,000 after fans barracked French striker Thierry Henry and England defender Ashley Cole during a European cup tie with Arsenal.

Other examples have seen Italian club Roma's three black players pelted with bananas during local games with rivals Lazio, while neo-Nazi banners and slogans adorn some stadia in Poland and black soccer stars are regularly abused in Serbia.

MEP Claude Moraes said the PSV Eindhoven fine was so low it almost amounted to condoning the abuse. 'UEFA have been deeply insulting on this, they have done more damage with the tiny fine and trivialised the matter,' he said.

'Football is not just a sport but a strong symbol for the rest of society. You can't understand the sheer terror players undergo when hundreds of people are making monkey noises every time you touch the ball.'

However, UEFA's head of communications Mike Lee defended its record on fighting racism and claimed that critics failed to appreciate the efforts UEFA is currently making.

'Clearly there are problems in European football and we are issuing punishments as well as trying to tackle the problem at the same time,' he said. 'We've put 1.4 million Swiss francs (l 950,000) into Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) and are working closely with them to promote educational work across Europe.'

In an unprecedented move, UEFA appealed against its own semi-independent disciplinary panel after officials expressed disappointment at the size of the punishment handed to PSV.

The Parliament's sports and anti-racist intergroup last month invited former England international Earl Barret to speak to MEPs at Strasbourg about the ongoing problem of racism in football.

'It's disgusting that UEFA puts so much effort in negotiating its multi-million deals and is doing little to target racism specifically,' Moraes said. 'Taunting of black players will continue to rise unless something is done.'

Clubs from eastern European countries hoping to join the EU regularly figure in UEFA investigations into racist abuse.

One of the worst examples of racist chanting took place during a recent international between England and Slovakia in Bratislava. Emile Heskey, Liverpool's black striker, was relentlessly barracked amid an intimidating atmosphere.

Moraes believes that the European Commission should step in now in an attempt to eradicate the problem before it gets worse.

However, UK Socialist Barbara O'Toole and Dutch Liberal Maria Sanders Ten-Holte, who sit on Parliament's culture committee, think MEPs should first have the chance to discuss the best way to tackle racism with UEFA officials before the Commission wades in.

'We need to develop a pro-active strategy like the 'Kick It Out' campaign in England, and transfer it to the EU as a whole,' O'Toole said. 'If UEFA failed to listen to MEPs' advice then I think you would have to look at the Commission getting involved in the matter.'

Sanders Ten-Holte also called for a concerted initiative to combat racism, saying: 'UEFA cannot sort it out on its own. It must have the support of everyone from the clubs themselves to the public and member states.'

Christophe Forax, the spokesperson for Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding, said that the Commission can offer only advice and guidelines.

'We can say there is a social function of sport and promote that to the best of our ability but the Commission cannot be seen to impinge upon the autonomy of the sport itself.'

But Lee says the problem is not just UEFA's. 'UEFA is always happy to meet with MEPs and Commission officials but there are no simple solutions to this problem,' he said. 'Critics should realise our efforts and understand that UEFA can't solve the problem of racism in Europe on its own, it's a political issue as well. Those who put the blame at our feet should try and help solve the problems of racism in society instead.'

• Soccer's G-14 group - made up of Europe's most powerful teams, including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Juventus - will open an office in Brussels on Tuesday (5 November).

The influential group has been discussing measures, such as wage-to-turnover ratios, in a bid to halt the game's spiralling costs.

MEPs have branded action by UEFA, European football's governing body, to tackle the growing rise of racism in Europe as inadequate.