Real Zaragoza were fined a measly 600 Euros by the Spanish FA and several other clubs were also fined during the course of the season for similar incidents. Atheltico Madrid were fined 6000 Euros for racial abuse of Espanyol’s Cameroon goalkeeper Carlo Kameni and Deportivo La Coruna, Albacete and Getafe received fines for similar incidents.
A similar incident to the Eto’o one happened in Italy with Ivorian defender Marc Zoro. The Messina defender threatened to halt a Serie A game after suffering racial abuse from the visiting Inter Milan supporters. It is also well known that fans of Italy’s capital club, Lazio, have supporters with strong fascist views. Ex-Lazio player Paolo Di Canio landed himself in trouble for making the fascist salute to the Lazio fans after scoring in the Rome derby.
In Paris the Mayor is worried about the cities image due to recent events at Paris SG’s stadium, the Parc de Princes, as racism has become increasingly common with insults and monkey chants directed at black players. Far-right gangs have also looked to fight black and Arab members of rival gangs at the stadium during games. When Israeli side Hapoel Tel Avis visited for a UEFA Cup match in November 2006, a plains clothes police officer shot into a crowd of skirmishing football fans as he tired to protect a Hapoel Tel Aviv supporter, killing one person in the process. This incident is thought to have resulted from Paris SG fans chanting anti-semitism songs during their sides 4-2 defeat
In Central and Eastern Europe problems of racism and anti-semitism still exist. During England’s Euro 2004 qualifier in Slovakia their black players suffered racist abuse from the crowd which highlighted the countries problem to the international media. However, the problem existed long before England’s visit. Players from black ethnic backgrounds playing their trade in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania are subject to monkey chanting and being pelted with bananas every week.
In October 2006, when Blackburn Rovers visited Krakow in Poland for a UEFA Cup tie, Benni McCarthy claimed he was abused by Wisla Krakow defender Nikola Mijailovic. The English FA wrote a letter to UEFA to ask them to investigate the allegations of racism whilst Wisla claimed they had already investigated the incident and found nothing to substantiate the claim. The referee also failed to mention the incident in his report but UEFA took action against the player and banned him for five games.
Article comments
1 - alessandro nicolo
I saw the game regarding the Zoro incident. Awful. Of Italy and Spain, I think Spain and Aragones have been downright oblivious. It's a black mark on football. Good piece. Well documented.
2 - RJ Elliott
Fine piece.
But tell me, is there any racial abuse when White soccer/football players play in Africa or Asia?
3 - alessandro nicolo
Yeah. And do they know it's Christmas?
4 - Mell x
Well I am only 15 but I am studying racsim in football for a piece of GCSE coursework I am doing. I find it upsetting that people are picked on because of their colour or accent. We are all made of the same organs it is just some people look different. What would the world be like if we were all the same? I just find it a bit upsetting! I am enjoying studying this, and maybe in the future we can do more to prevent anymore racist acts against anyone.