No matter what club allegiance/loyalty football fans across the UK have I think we all agree on the fact that Sepp Blatter is a odious and unscrupulous individual that ought to have been removed from his post a long time ago.
Putting football aside for just a brief moment, not even 12 months ago Blatter practically condoned homophobia by "joking" that Gay football fans should refrain from homosexual activity in Qatar during the 2022 cup. This was clearly an issue overlooked by Blatter when he and his unscrupulous FIFA cronies decided to give Qatar the 2022 World Cup and I will come onto the Russia 2018 later. For reasons which I needn't go into football fans have a bad enough reputation as it is, but I'd like to think in recent years the image of your typical football fan has changed somewhat, but Blatter's comments again won't have helped our cause to clean up our image. As the most authoritative figure in football it should be his job to encourage all types of fans into watching "The Beautiful Game" not ostracise certain types of fans even more as he has done with the above comments.
Almost 12 months on from his comments about Homosexuals and Blatter has gone a step further and now undermined racism, even saying categorically that there is no racism on the field, well that's strange because I'd be willing to bet that if he asked any Black or even Asian Footballer if they would agree with him I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar they wouldn't. To suggest that footballers that have suffered racial slurs/abuse should simply shake hands and get on with it for me is a step too far. Now I appreciate the rest of Europe may not frown upon racism but one of the things I'm proud of is that in this country we do, I am not saying racism isn't prevalent in the UK because only a fool would believe that and I have experienced racism many a time in this country despite being of a fairly tender age. Clubs in the UK have worked tirelessly over the last few years to try and kick out all forms of discrimination at grounds, particularly racism. The "Kick it Out" Campaigns have been hugely successful and professional footballers have played a huge part in that.
My main concern is that in 7 years we have a World Cup in a country which is well known for its overtly racist fans and the President of FIFA basically condoning racism with his condescending comments. The fact that Russian Football has done seemingly nothing to combat racism is even more telling.
The above picture shows a banner from fans of Lokomtiv Moscow which was aimed at West Brom thanking them for signing Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie with the depicted banana used as a racial slur. Odemwingie even described the racism in Russia as extreme and had depressing experiences of playing football. Now I can't say too much about Russia as I have never been there but would this behaviour be tolerated in the UK nowadays? You bet not. In what way will Blatter's comments deter the sections of racist Russian fans from continuing with this behaviour? Well of course they'll be able to shake hands with the many black players they have abused and probably have a cup of tea and a few biscuits in the changing room and get signed autographs with them afterwards.
The most depressing thing about this isn't just the nature of Blatter's comments, it's the fact that most people (outside the UK) will probably agree with them. So after Brazil 2014 which will probably be the last World Cup worth watching for the best part of a decade, we then have a World Cup in a country where racism is rife and then four years later we then have a World Cup in a country where Homophobia if forbidden by law, all of this with the FIFA president all but condoning both types of discrimination.
So thank you Sepp Blatter, for undermining everything we in the UK are trying to do to combat racism and homophobia. We have clubs trying to set an example by issuing life bans from football grounds for racist behaviour and then you simply saying it should be settled with a handshake and then we have clubs also issuing banning orders for homophobia and you simply saying homosexual fans should refrain from homosexual sexual activity whilst in Qatar. Just what do you expect the clubs issuing these banning orders to say to those fans when you condone discriminatory behaviour?
The Y Word
I don't at all condone it but almost every football fan has referred to fans of Tottenham Hotspur FC as the "Yids" for years, going back to the 70s and 80s and it is a term that has been adopted by the club as an identity to fight against those that use it as an insult to their fans. It is a derogatory term and wrong IMO as it makes fans of Jewish descent feel uncomfortable. West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea fans in particular have used this term for years yet action and kick it out campaigns only come into action for the Chelsea vs Spurs game last season.
Ask any Spurs fan that goes to London aways and they will tell you West Ham fans are easily the worst sets of fans when it comes to this, but as a media darling they will never be apprehended in the same way Chelsea fans are for the use of this word or labelled as an anti-Semitic club as Chelsea are. I go to Chelsea home and away (mainly away's these days) and I am not myopic enough to deny there is an anti-Semitic sentiment amongst a minority of our support but I must stress that is a minority, no different to the "minority" that regularly abuse Sol Campbell and other black footballers inside ground particularly in games involving Spurs and Arsenal. Being black myself it angers me that fans of these two clubs are vindicated by the media because "it's a massive derby", "you have to understand the emotion of this fixture and what it means to the fans" and "sadly these things happen in games like this", yet should the incident involve a club they hate i.e us, you could bet your bottom dollar it would make headline news.
The FA/media and their bias
I don't get why the FA etc are so quick to act when alleged incidents involve Chelsea. Racism has existed in society and in football for years and there are many black footballers that have tried to raise this issue but it has fallen on deaf ears by the FA.
Incidents involving other clubs are swept under the carpet yet incidents involving Chelsea fans and players make headline news on 24 hour news coverage programmes.
As recently as this month, we have seen both Arsenal and Spurs issue statements regarding the behaviour of their fans and the appalling racial abuse aimed at the black players of both clubs. We have also seen a high profile Manchester United player accuse and report Luis Suarez for alleged racism and this has seemingly been swept under the carpet by the media. For years Spurs fans have hurled racial (and homophobic) abuse at Sol Campbell and the media have turned a blind eye to it.
Where were the calls to look into racism then? Now John Terry, a hate figure of the media and non-Chelsea football fans in general is accused by a member of the public (a QPR fan) and this has now sparked national and widespread debate on Sky, BBC and even Channel 5 on racism. IF and I stress IF this is taken further by the alleged victim and JT is found and proven guilty then in my eyes he should be dealt with accordingly, but this isn't the case thus far.
Why only now, when a Chelsea player is accused is racism in football being looked into? Why does it take an alleged claim involving a Chelsea player for this to spark such widespread debate on this issue? QPR's very own Shaun Derry (who then played for Crystal Palace) was involved in an alleged racial incident involving Michael Chorpa. Derry had to be pulled away by a black colleague (Neil Danns) and a black steward. As well as this Darren Bent, when playing for Sunderland reported racist abuse of his own mother by a section of his own support, again the FA took little or no action and this was forgotten about the next day. Now this isn't the first or last time the media have used anything to sink their teeth into regarding Chelsea. Moving on from racism, I'd like to now focus on the "respect for referees".
For many years, football fans across the UK have been subjected to watch some of the worst verbal attacks on referees, by none other than Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United players. Some my recall a match involving Manchester United and Middlesbrough in the 2000 whereby at least 6 United players chased and screamed at referee Andy D'Urso upon giving a controversial penalty to the opposition, so much so that the referee was forced to retreat. Where were the calls and campaigns for respecting referees then? No, it took an incident involving Chelsea's Ashley Cole in a hotly contested derby with Spurs at White Hart Lane.
Pretty much anyone that supports Chelsea can see there is a clear bias against us in media HQ, many high profile journalists such as Patrick Barclay (Times) and Oliver Holt (Mirror) have even admitted it on live television and on social networking sites such as Twitter. The high percentage of journalists that support Liverpool, Manchester United, Fulham, Spurs and West Ham (all of whom hate Chelsea) is an unsurprising factor as to why we receive so much media stick, not to mention the fact we have played like Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard who are constantly chastised by the media, whether it be because their cousin three times removed has shoplifted from the local Morrison's or because they have been seen partying with friends or girls in a nightclub. There seems to be a rush to condemn any Chelsea player for any alleged wrongdoing without actually knowing the facts.
Moving onto the QPR game, in what was easily the most one sided and unprofessional displays from a referee you are ever likely to see (pardon Ovrebo), yet this is being overlooked by the FA and media due to above reasons involving our captain which have no doubt been orchestrated by the media to cover up what was daylight robbery on Sunday. The only thing worse than the ref and the game itself, was the aftermath of it all. What should have been a discussion on the Man Utd capitulation at Old Trafford against their biggest rivals and a valiant 9-man Chelsea effort against the 11/12 men of QPR quickly turned into a debate about our "indiscipline". What these buffoons in the media cease to forget is that last season we boasted the best disciplinary record but in the three games we have dropped points so far, we have been undone mainly down to horrendous officiating. Is it any surprise our discipline has taken a turn for the worst given the circumstances?
I am a hater of the English national team, so much so that I consider myself to be part of the "ABE" - Anyone But England brigade that our Welsh, Scottish and Irish counterparts use so willingly, but even I was shocked and appalled as England fans booed and jeered every touch by Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard the first friendly after the 2010 World Cup. Now anyone watching that farce of a cup would realise that the three Chelsea players they so heinously targeted were in fact 3 of the better players in what was a poor England side. It only served to confirm what we already knew, the nation as a whole is in fact - Anti-Chelsea. Right from the media, to the fans, to the FA.
