Although the French Football Federation have complained to FIFA about Argentina’s chant, this isn’t an issue aimed at one nation.
While Chelsea are investigating Enzo Fernandez’s conduct, this isn’t about one player’s guilt.
For years I have written about football having a serious issue. Grown men and women thinking in the confines of their footballing bubble they can act how they want.
Instead of the Euros and Copa America being a celebration of the sport this summer it showed where the game is at in 2024.
Cups being thrown from the stands, pitch invasions, fans fighting each other, players jumping into the crowd to protect their families, people breaking into the stadium through air vents and the World Champions celebrating by racially targeting another country.
It should be stressed that Fernandez is not the only Argentinean singing in the video, mocking France for having talent either born elsewhere or having parents born somewhere else, or both.
The truth is it seems that the majority on the coach joined in with the racial song and few of the squad have condemned it.
In fact, their sporting minister has been sacked for suggesting the team apologise.
This is what their vice president said, “No country with a colonial history is going to put us down for a song sung on a field nor for speaking a truth that nobody wants to admit,”
So, if you’re wondering why the likes of Messi have not shown more remorse the reality is they might believe they have nothing wrong.
Only Fernandez knows how sorry he is, but I sense his apology might have been something Chelsea’s PR team insisted on?
That might be the case after preseason with the majority of Argentina’s players based in Europe.
The reality is; if your happily filming yourself and friends being racists and posting it on social media for the world to see, then you’re not sorry at all?
The 23 old is only sorry because this might cost him some wages and game time. Yet he’s old enough and played outside of South America long enough to not use ignorance as an excuse.
Anyone who watches domestic football from this continent will know that it’s still common for monkey noises to me made.
As a nation, Argentina are motivated by defiantly battling the universe, even if that only exists in their own imagination. They will argue that that’s what’s led to their recent success on the pitch.
Off the field, some powerful political figures are willing to argue that no one is going to judge their culture and preach to them how to behave.
It wouldn’t shock me if legally they challenge their right to free speech on their private coach away from the ground.
I said for years if Governing bodies truly wanted to fight racism, they would choose to have zero tolerance.
That’s why taking the knees was booed by some. To me it was a tick boxing exercise, an empty gesture.
What would mean so much more is if the FA uses every power they had to make an example out of the midfielder.
Once a year, UEFA and FIFA will produce a stunning banner, a fancy logo, an inspirational montage to claim they fight against the issue. I would much rather they take action.
One of their rules is for all Associations to agree to not discriminate, so how can they accept a side ranked number 1 in the world doing the opposite.
Chelsea are no difference to any business; the priority will be to make money.
They are not going to pay an asset worth 100 million to sit at home.
Which is fine – just don’t send out your players wearing any bands or shirts saying you fight racism.
Dan
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Unfortunately the world is still made up of bigoted and racist people
It is a sad set of affairs that this has happened but not a surprise. To me or most decent people.
The good thing that has come out of this is that the people who got caught up in there own eutopia of emotion let there guard down and showed there true colours. I heard Paul mortimer of kick it out speak today.
He said back in the day you knew the racist as they said it to your face. Now they hide behind a charade of I am not like them
So you never really know
Fernandez apology be hollow and just words to appease people or will he mean it.Will teaching Fernandez and co the history and why it is wrong. Don’t think it will. Not when the majority of the nations thinks they have done nothing wrong
Will fifa have the back bone to make an example of Argentina and ban the world cup winners from all competition for the next 2 years which means they cant defend the world Cup
This would make a statement to the world and say we have zero tolerance when it comes to racism and everything else that offends or discriminates against any person.
Or does money mean more then doing the right thing
Onwards and upwards
Powerful words Allanball08 and I can’t disagree in any shape or form
I read a report today that women and girls have never been subjected to more harassment and sexual abuse than they are now
There we have it. As much as many of us see progress, human nature comes and smacks it back in our faces
Joey Barton springs to mind as a thoroughly unpleasant individual
“I read a report today that women and girls have never been subjected to more harassment and sexual abuse than they are now”
Does that really sound believable? There seems to be a lot of people with an interest in making things seem a lot worse than they are (relatively speaking at least). I find it extremely hard to believe this is true for all times and across the entire world, and certainly not in the UK – that really doesn’t make sense. They don’t even have statistics and certainly not verifiable statistics to make statements like that with any level of confidence (or honesty, frankly). They also do things like lump all different kinds of words with actions together as “harassment”, and I learned recently that someone in the country can be considered “harassed” if they overhear something that offends them, even if it’s nothing to do with them. It doesn’t make sense…
Davi
Does that then mean that racism is over egged?
Of course there is behaviour that girls/women should be able to bat back and I agree that it has become easy to be offended over not very much.
However, I was standing as a 13 year old in the clock end, and my dad had to remonstrate with a man who was standing behind me, touching me up. Lovely, I don’t think! I can’t be the only person to have that or similar happen to them.
Nowadays, it’s mere trifles like upskirting, porn revenge and weirdos on the internet pretending they are 17 old boys when instead they’re anything but.
As you are not a woman you seem to be oblivious. Banter it’s commonly called but do women really belly laugh at being told to get back in the kitchen? That’s at the almost funny end of the spectrum like the mother in law jokes but you omitted to mention the likes of Andrew &Tristan Tate who have made their fortune over trafficking women and are open misogynists spouting their vile beliefs
I never said nothing bad happens now or everything is perfect (I certainly don’t believe that), I was speaking relatively
In regards to the statement that “women and girls have never been subjected to more harassment and sexual abuse than they are now”, I was thinking of the times when slavery was the norm, or even just the 1980s – it’s absurd to think things aren’t better for women nowadays compared to back then, surely?
There are hundreds of university courses studying these issues now – now they can generate detailed statistics, but that can only really go back as far as those courses have been around, which isn’t very long… But more importantly, for the people who’ve studied those courses, what can they really do other than become activists for the cause? Many won’t have many other prospects other than to bang the drum and write articles saying things have never been worse.
And I’m sorry to hear what happened to you, truly, and I agree it will have happened to many others and still does – I don’t deny those sorts of people exist, and they should all be locked up, frankly. I just think that needs to be seen as a completely separate category to “banter” (for the most part anyway), however, it seems these things are often grouped together.
You said it in two words: human nature
I heard N*z*s fled to Argentina and the citizens are predominantly bright-skinned Caucasians
If it were true, I wouldn’t be surprised of their national team players’ behaviors
Being caught in the Euphoria is such a lame excuse, they could have chanted all the songs in Argentina! They never played France to start with , it wasnt a world cup! a continental competition and you are racially chanting to a team you did not face. They should be banned but it wont happen.
👍
I am really sorry I didn’t reply to this earlier.
As a man I loathe what I see regarding these incidents
There is no excuse and no room for this behavior.
I read that sexual abuse and physical abuse goes up during certain periods of the euros and other sporting events
Inadequate inferior men using ther masculinity to abuse people smaller then them.
It makes me ashamed of being a man when I hear these kind of people are out there doing these sorts of terrible things
Imo cut of there tool and paint there faces in yellow and force them to walk about like that rather being hidden away
A bit extreme I know
Allanball08
Don’t feel ashamed as you are not responsible for the behaviour of those weaker individuals. However, thank you for your support. It beats trying to under estimate the scale of it from elsewhere
You’re a star
And no doubt, the black community have faced awful prejudice
A man that abuses a woman is nothing but a coward ! I very much doubt he’d have the minerals to have a go at another man.