"Racism has been going on for a long time, since who knows when. And the sport that can’t catch a break from it is soccer, or as it is also known around the world, “football.”"--Trevor Walton, 7th grade
Racism has been going on for a long time, since who knows when. And the sport that can’t catch a break from it is soccer, or as it is also known around the world, “football.”
On October 14th, there was an international game between England and Bulgaria in Sofia, the Capital of Bulgaria. Fans from Bulgaria wore black hoodies and made ape noises to the English players, and even did the Nazis Salute. The refs had to stop the game two times, but the Bulgarian fans persisted in their racist taunting, resulting in the English team walking off with full support from their coach.
Afterwards, the refs called off the game with England winning 6-0. This event caused the Bulgarian coach to resign in disgust of the fans’ actions.
"The performance of Bulgaria's men's national team in recent months has been described as unsatisfactory,” Krasimir Balakov, the coach of the Bulgaria team, replied after the game.
This is just the most recent racist spectacle in a sport with a long history of racism. Paul Pogba, center midfield on Manchester United, was racially abused after missing a penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 18th. Fans of Man Utd were posting racist tweets about Pogba, describing him as “Just some monkey.”
“My ancestors and my parents suffered for my generation to be free today, to work, to take the bus, to play football,” the French player wrote on Instagram after what happened to him. “Racist insults are ignorance and can only make me stronger and motivate me to fight for the next generation.”
Players such as Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tammy Abraham, and Teemu Pukki are also taking a stand against this racist behavior. After the game with England and Bulgaria, the Premier League officials wanted to start a campaign called “No room for racism.” These players are featured in a video that will be broadcast at games through October 19-27.
On October 14th, there was an international game between England and Bulgaria in Sofia, the Capital of Bulgaria. Fans from Bulgaria wore black hoodies and made ape noises to the English players, and even did the Nazis Salute. The refs had to stop the game two times, but the Bulgarian fans persisted in their racist taunting, resulting in the English team walking off with full support from their coach.
Afterwards, the refs called off the game with England winning 6-0. This event caused the Bulgarian coach to resign in disgust of the fans’ actions.
"The performance of Bulgaria's men's national team in recent months has been described as unsatisfactory,” Krasimir Balakov, the coach of the Bulgaria team, replied after the game.
This is just the most recent racist spectacle in a sport with a long history of racism. Paul Pogba, center midfield on Manchester United, was racially abused after missing a penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 18th. Fans of Man Utd were posting racist tweets about Pogba, describing him as “Just some monkey.”
“My ancestors and my parents suffered for my generation to be free today, to work, to take the bus, to play football,” the French player wrote on Instagram after what happened to him. “Racist insults are ignorance and can only make me stronger and motivate me to fight for the next generation.”
Players such as Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tammy Abraham, and Teemu Pukki are also taking a stand against this racist behavior. After the game with England and Bulgaria, the Premier League officials wanted to start a campaign called “No room for racism.” These players are featured in a video that will be broadcast at games through October 19-27.
After what happened with Pogba, Phil Nevile, the coach of the Women’s English soccer team, thought that players should delete their social media accounts because it is not helping tackle bullying and racial abuse online. “I've lost total faith in whoever runs these social media departments,” Nevile said, “so let's send a powerful message: come off social media for six months. Let's see the effect it has on these social media companies.”
Mesut Ozil, a center attacking midfield for Arsenal, has also faced racism. Ozil retired from the international Germany squad after being racially abused by the German Football Association. When the German-citizen Ozil won his international games, he was treated as a German. And when he loses, he was treated as an immigrant.
“It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect,” said Ozil. “I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don't ... racism should never, ever be accepted.”
Soccer players are actually excited to retire because of racism. Danny Rose, an English player who is a left back on Tottenham Hotspurs, was subjected to racism when playing against Montenegro on March 25th. His team also faced similar racism in that game. Rose is just frustrated about the lack of action from the soccer leagues to try and stop this racism. “Can't wait to see the back of football,” Rose announced.
Teenage prodigy, Moise Kean, a striker for Everton, was racially abused by fans of Cagliari FC when he was on his old team, Juventas. The fans were making monkey chants when Kean was playing. But when Kean scored, he celebrated by putting his hands up in the air in a reactive gesture to the Cagliari fans.
But his teammate, Leonardo Bonucci, said on Instagram that Kean had to take 50-50 of the blame. “Kean should not have done that and the Cagliari fans should not have reacted in that way,” the Italian defender said to Sky Sports Italia. “Kean knows that when goals are scored he just has to think about cheering with the team, hugging them all together. It was an episode and even he knows he could have done something different.”
Raheem Sterling, a left winger on Manchester City, has responded on Instagram to what Bonucci said about Kean. “All you can do is laugh,” the English player wrote in disbelief. While the Netherlands and Lyon player, Memphis Depay, said something different to Bonucci, “I am disappointed in your reaction ... we will not be quiet.”
Mario Ballotelli, an Italian soccer player who is a striker, also responded to Bonucci’s comments on Kean’s action. “Bravo. Bonucci is lucky that I wasn't there. Instead of defending you he does this? I am shocked,” the Italian Ballotelli told ESPN. Pogba, a French center midfielder on Manchester United, reposted a picture of what Moise Kean did. “I support every fight against racism, we're all equal,” Pogba wrote.
Bonucci changed his opinion after the tweets. “Regardless of everything, in any case ... no to racism,” he wrote on his Instagram story
Mesut Ozil, a center attacking midfield for Arsenal, has also faced racism. Ozil retired from the international Germany squad after being racially abused by the German Football Association. When the German-citizen Ozil won his international games, he was treated as a German. And when he loses, he was treated as an immigrant.
“It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect,” said Ozil. “I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don't ... racism should never, ever be accepted.”
Soccer players are actually excited to retire because of racism. Danny Rose, an English player who is a left back on Tottenham Hotspurs, was subjected to racism when playing against Montenegro on March 25th. His team also faced similar racism in that game. Rose is just frustrated about the lack of action from the soccer leagues to try and stop this racism. “Can't wait to see the back of football,” Rose announced.
Teenage prodigy, Moise Kean, a striker for Everton, was racially abused by fans of Cagliari FC when he was on his old team, Juventas. The fans were making monkey chants when Kean was playing. But when Kean scored, he celebrated by putting his hands up in the air in a reactive gesture to the Cagliari fans.
But his teammate, Leonardo Bonucci, said on Instagram that Kean had to take 50-50 of the blame. “Kean should not have done that and the Cagliari fans should not have reacted in that way,” the Italian defender said to Sky Sports Italia. “Kean knows that when goals are scored he just has to think about cheering with the team, hugging them all together. It was an episode and even he knows he could have done something different.”
Raheem Sterling, a left winger on Manchester City, has responded on Instagram to what Bonucci said about Kean. “All you can do is laugh,” the English player wrote in disbelief. While the Netherlands and Lyon player, Memphis Depay, said something different to Bonucci, “I am disappointed in your reaction ... we will not be quiet.”
Mario Ballotelli, an Italian soccer player who is a striker, also responded to Bonucci’s comments on Kean’s action. “Bravo. Bonucci is lucky that I wasn't there. Instead of defending you he does this? I am shocked,” the Italian Ballotelli told ESPN. Pogba, a French center midfielder on Manchester United, reposted a picture of what Moise Kean did. “I support every fight against racism, we're all equal,” Pogba wrote.
Bonucci changed his opinion after the tweets. “Regardless of everything, in any case ... no to racism,” he wrote on his Instagram story
