Are footballers becoming a force for good in helping to tackle racism?

With football clubs and players hero worshipped in their local communities in a way that politicians can only dream of, they are ideally placed to make a real difference in the fight against racism.

Most clubs have a long and proud history of supporting their local communities and there seems to be a growing desire currently to use this connection to tackle discrimination with an audience that is very receptive to the words and views of their heroes.

However, although there have been some good initiatives, nobody can deny that football has had a chequered past regarding racism, mainly on the terraces it has to be said but who can forget incidents such as Luis Suarez calling Patrice Evra ‘negredo’ a few years ago and rightly receiving a lengthy ban for it. Or John Terry, an England captain, who was fined and banned by the FA for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. Such incidents really did not help the cause!

I have spoken in previous blogs about how, although there is still some way to go, British society has made impressive strides in recent decades with respect to tackling discrimination and the same is true in football.  We have come such a long way from the dark days of the ‘80s, when it was not uncommon for banana skins to be thrown on the pitch at black players and large swathes of the crowd making monkey chants.

As many of you will know, I am a lifelong Liverpool FC supporter and have been going to the matches regularly since 1985. I remember John Barnes, an absolute genius of a footballer (and also a pretty good rap artist, who knew?) getting terrible abuse but rising above it because that was just ‘the way it is’. He was good enough to let his football do the talking.

Since the ‘80s there have been several excellent initiatives in football such as ‘give racism the red card’ ‘kick it out’ and ‘no room for racism’ that I am sure made some difference, mainly locally, but those campaigns largely went under the radar in terms of the national picture so had limited impact generally.

But in recent times the situation seems to be improving. It started with individual players making more of a stand e.g. Raheem Sterling at Manchester City, and it became clear that a more holistic approach is needed if the potential football has to make an impact regarding discrimination is to be realised.

You may remember that players started wearing badges on their football shirts a few years ago with slogans against racism, which was discussed in the media so increased the profile of the campaign and also the badges featured on replica shirts worn by fans of all ages.

Then a couple of years ago new protocols were introduced throughout Europe whereby warnings are given to football crowds over the PA system if they make racist chants or abuse players and if they do not desist the match is paused, or even abandoned.

When players were subsequently instructed to leave the pitch following racist chants from the fans it was discussed by the liked and respected pundits on television and made newspaper headlines causing national debate, all of which gave the same message about how such racism is simply not acceptable. This high profile action is clearly a good thing and increases debate and also the profile of the initiatives to stamp out racism.

But for me the most impactful initiative has been players ‘taking the knee’ before matches start. This has been controversial but again has led to press coverage and debates by respected people denouncing racism. These debates and the subsequent discussions in pubs and houses across the land would not otherwise have happened. I believe that dialogue and education are the keys to tackling racism.

Although, whilst I can understand why they did it, the football authorities may have made an error to initially align the action of taking the knee specifically to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement as it gave critics the opportunity to argue that football was supporting a Marxist, anti-capitalist agenda that aims to defund the police rather than discussing the issues that the action aimed to rail against.

To some degree this took the debate away from the issue at hand so I was pleased when the decision was taken to discreetly drop the Black Lives Matter connection in favour of football’s own anti racism initiatives.

This subtle distancing was especially important once Black Lives Matter became a political movement in the UK as political statements are specifically banned from football shirts, grounds etc. with the exception of wearing poppies.

There was a danger that the change would lead to some loss of momentum but, to its credit, the football community has not allowed that to happen.

I strongly disagree with those in society and the media who say that by taking the knee footballers are making a political statement about defunding the police etc.

When a footballer does something mindless, stupid or violent we are rightly reminded that whether they like it or not these impressive young athletes are considered to be role models and kids, adolescents and adults copy their behaviour. Critics have used this to say that taking the knee means that footballers are promoting the above Marxist agenda of Black Lives Matter and this will influence their audiences in a negative way.

I disagree. My take on this is that footballers take the knee for a good reason and their status as role models will have a positive influence on society. I feel they are saying to the kids, young adults, supporters and society as a whole that they feel strongly that racism is completely unacceptable and they do not want to have any part in it being associated with the game they love. They take the knee to show this, and to stand together as one against racism. A powerful message.

Of course they are not saying ‘defund the police’ etc. that would be ridiculous. It is a positive message and should be applauded, not least because they are undoubtedly role models and have the capacity to influence behaviour and opinion where few other individuals will be listened to. If the role model argument applies when they do something wrong, surely it also applies to positive actions as well?

Footballers taking the knee has caused so much debate and that is a good thing, for me the old adage that there is ‘no such thing as bad publicity’ applies here and anything that causes debates in the media where respected and revered public figures decry racism can only help.

Recently some Millwall supporters booed their players taking the knee. In their defence the football supporters’ association said they were in fact booing Marxism, not the team taking the knee. I will leave you to make your own minds up as to whether that was the real reason they booed.

Whatever their reason for booing, on the face of it it seems misguided. But even this act has caused high profile debate that has mostly helped the cause and has raised the profile of the campaign against racism. It was even debated on last Thursday night’s Question Time programme!

So all good it seems? Well, no! Football never makes it easy for itself and true to form, a clanger was dropped just at the wrong time. I actually wrote some of this article a few weeks ago but then, just as I was about to publish, the FA Chairman Greg Clarke made some unacceptable remarks about race and had to step down.

Although some may not feel that what he said is all that bad, in his position and at this time it was naive at best to use the word ‘coloured’ and make lazy and uninformed generalisations about people of South Asian origin. You simply cannot have someone in that position who has such views or makes such errors when football is trying hard to tackle the issues that his comments undermine.

Greg Clarke had become the story rather than tackling racism being the story, and this would have been used to put a negative slant on all future announcements by him if he had continued in the role.

Footballers’ new zero tolerance to racism was shown last week following an incident at the Paris Saint Germain v Istanbul Basaksehir match in the Champions League that was watched by millions around the country and around the world. The fourth official heard a comment made by one of the Istanbul coaches about a referee decision and called the referee over to dismiss the coach. When he asked which coach had made the comment, as there were 7 all wearing the same track suit, the fourth official replied ‘the black one’ or may have used the term ‘negredo’ or ‘negrus’.

The players of both sides walked off the pitch and the match had to be abandoned until the following day. Again, the way this was reported and described gave a powerful message that footballers stand together on this and find any form of racism unacceptable. Especially in their capacity as role models this can only be a good thing and hopefully will make a difference in terms of changing attitudes and will have led to healthy debate and hopefully a growing realisation that racism is intolerable.

So far I have mainly used opinion to argue my case. However, if you want facts about how football can reduce racism, the best example I have is that when Mo Salah moved to Liverpool Football Club there was a proven reduction in Islamophobia and racism against Muslims on Merseyside. Statistics prove this.

With regards to where we go from here, these recent developments have created debate and got people talking throughout the country, which is clearly a good thing. But, importantly, clubs have committed to using this recent momentum as a catalyst to do more.

Some clubs are concerned that taking the knee has run its course and is becoming a ‘token gesture’ so the message is becoming diluted at a time when there is opportunity to build on the momentum. In fact, legendary black footballer Les Ferdinand recently said ‘the taking of the knee has reached a point of good PR but little more than that. The message has been lost. It is now not dissimilar to a fancy hash tag or a nice pin badge’.

So the answer to where we go from here seems to be to build on the success of taking the knee and other recent achievements and not let the issue fizzle out. Many clubs are doing this, but they do it best at a local level where they have the most influence and there are plenty examples of this happening e.g. Lincoln City FC have stopped taking the knee but are sending players into schools to help educate young people in the community to promote diversity, having signed up to the FA’s new ‘Football Leadership Diversity Code’.

Making the most of football clubs’ local influence is the focus of the FA’s latest initiative ‘Football for Change’ and whereas it is generally accepted that the previous campaign ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ probably made little difference they seem to have learned their lessons and so far the signs are good.

In addition to the work done by the FA and the clubs themselves, individuals continue to stand out as shining lights. In the same spirit as Marcus Rashford’s work on food for children, Liverpool FC’s Trent Alexander Arnold won a Sports Personality of the Year award a few days ago for his work with anti racism organisations. If you want to read an uplifting report on how a fabulous young man can make a difference to his local community, Google Trent. He is such an impressive example and a real force for good.

So hopefully we are heading in the right direction and football is going some way to help tackle racism. Will these actions lead to real change? Whereas the initial signs are good, only time will tell. A 2020 survey by ‘Kick it Out’ found that 43 percent of Premier League players had received racist abuse on twitter so clearly there is still a long way to go.

With regards to tackling racism and other forms of discrimination in the workplace, the issues are a little different e.g. I can’t imagine banana skins being thrown at employees or colleagues making monkey chants. 186hr have significant experience of helping companies tackle all forms of discrimination. It is a specialism of ours and something we care passionately about. Contact us today to see how we can you and your organisation.

186hr – HR Consultancy and Training