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Racism in Football — Is it Solvable?
Still see racist abuse online. From children.
*This article is not written with the purpose of fuelling any further hate or encouraging any bigoted behavior.
As soon as a black football player misses a penalty, everyone knows what is about to happen. A barrage of hate-fuelled messages is to follow. This is what happened to Manchester Utd player Elanga recently.
This brought back sad memories. I remember Saka missed the deciding penalty in the Final of the Euros. As an England fan, I remember being gutted. But what was to follow was simply unacceptable.
His race should not have ever been a talking point in the penalty miss. He was one of our best performers in the competition. Why is this so quickly forgotten?
Saka said he “knew instantly” the abuse he was about to receive. How heartbreaking is that? He was only 19 at the time.
It is getting ridiculous. I urge you to name a player who hasn’t missed a penalty in their career. Messi & Ronaldo miss them too. It doesn’t matter how good they are, big pressure and world-class goalkeepers stand in their way.
Things have barely improved since players started to take a knee. Has even fuelled negativity in some cases.
