Tottenham soccer player threatens to retire due to racism

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Danny Rose was again a victim of discrimination during England's game against Montenegro. After a week, he raised his voice to protest

"When the fine to a country for this reason is equivalent to what I spend on a night in London, what can you expect?". These were the harsh words that defender Danny Rose shared with the BBC after the game against Montenegro. On March 25, these two teams played a match for the Euro ranking, but the game was ruined in the last minutes, when the defender received a yellow card and Montenegro's fans began to shout racist chants, according to the EFE.

Leer en español: Futbolista del Tottenham amenaza con retirarse por culpa del racismo

After that game, Rose gave some explosive statements arguing that he could not wait to retire from soccer. The reason is not particularly this event, but the constant racism that is experienced in soccer, to which is added the inefficiency of its highest organ, FIFA.

And it is not of little importance. As we read before, what good is it for FIFA to sanction clubs with paltry sums, when those amounts are spent by a single player in one night. For example, remember the photo where Leo Messi's account is shown in a restaurant, where he spent around 39 thousand euros on a meal.

Of course, Danny Rose is right. As stated by the newspaper ES Racismo, in 2016 the Real Zaragoza club was fined 9 thousand euros for the racist chants of its fans against the player Samuel Eto'o; 30 thousand euros less than the cost of Messi's night. These types of sanctions seem more like a 'tax' to allow racist acts than truly an effective and forceful action against it.   

Some more cases

The Colombian player Yerry Mina was not even settled in the English League when the Everton's fans, current club of this player, sang a song with racist nuances. According to the newspaper AS, the so-called Falcon Blues made reference to the stature, the size of the penis and the color of Yerry Mina's skin. Later they apologized, but the damage was done.

On the other hand, this has not been the only Latin American player who has suffered from this scourge. The image of the Brazilian player, Dany Alves, became famous when, in a match against Villareal, Alves ate a banana that was thrown by Villareal. What was his reaction? According to Deportes RCN, the Brazilian said "I have been in Spain for 11 years and 11 years alike. We need to laught of this retarded people"

In addition, the most worrying thing is that it is not only the rival fans who commit this type of acts, but also the clubs themselves. For example, this month the Spartak of Moscow published an unusual Twitter in its official account, referring to the Brazilians Pedro Rocha and Luis Adriano. According to One Football, the tweet read: "See how the chocolates melt in the sun", an unfortunate blunder of its Community Manager.

Read also: Argentina: a national team overwhelmed by the decadence of its soccer

What is FIFA doing?

It seems that FIFA is becoming more aware of the problem that racism represents on the field. As stated by the RPP chain, for the 2018 Confederation Cup of Russia, this body announced the interruption and even the suspension of a match for racist acts. This is the first time that a decisive decision is made in international cups.

However, many times FIFA does not apply its own rules. The newspaper 20 Minutes set out the measures that,for 2006, had this maximun entity: "FIFA summarized the punishments that will apply worldwide, ranging from the suspension of matches to the deduction of points: three for the first foul, six for the second and the descent for later transgressions".

However, these rules have seldom been applied, let alone declines due to racism. On the other hand, in its 'Resolution on the fight against racism and discrimination', FIFA described some measures that have been taken. Some of them are an anti-discrimination officer that helps the referee, fines for both players and clubs, suspension of dates, relegation and even the exclusion of a team.

Even so, as was noted, many times these rules are left only on paper. It seems that the rules were clear, but a decisive application of these is lacking, because, sadly, these scenarios have become common in sports.

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz

Translated from "Futbolista del Tottenham amenaza con retirarse por culpa del racismo"