The shameful scenes in Sheffield and Udine over the week are only going to keep happening unless meaningful punishment is meted out
On Saturday afternoon, Coventry City midfielder Kasey Palmer was racially abused by some Sheffield Wednesday supporters. The English-born Jamaica international was simultaneously shocked but unsurprised by the monkey chants, the strength of his resolve matched only by his sense of resignation.
"I'm black and proud and I am raising my three kids to be the exact same," he wrote on social media after the game at Hillsborough. "I'll be honest, though, it feels like things will never change, no matter how hard we try."
And he's spot on. Just a few hours after the shameful scenes in Sheffield, AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was subjected to the same deplorable treatment by Udinese fans, hammering home the fact that incidents of racial abuse are only going to continue because the issue is still not being adequately addressed.
No real deterrent
Obviously, racism extends far beyond the confines of the football field. It is a deep-rooted societal issue that plagues every part of the world.
But the game is not playing its part. There are plenty of signs and slogans but never any meaningful action. The stadium closures are either partial or far too brief, the sentences so often suspended, and the fines always derisory. Consequently, there is no real deterrent for the racists.
AdvertisementGetty Images'Can't play like this'
As Maignan told , "This [behaviour] shouldn't exist in the world of football, but unfortunately for many years this is a recurrence. We all have to react. We must do something because you can't play like this."
For an unforgivable amount of time, players of colour were rather incredibly expected to do exactly that; to just get on with it. The misguided idea was that the racists shouldn't be given the satisfaction of seeing how much their abuse was hurting fellow human beings, and that the best way for the victims to respond was by letting their feet do the talking for them.
But as Arsenal legend Ian Wright has pointed out, "playing through it" didn't work at all.
'Make it make sense, please?'
Remember, Moise Kean and Romelu Lukaku have been vilified for silent shows of defiance. Kean was once accused by his own team-mate, Leonardo Bonucci, of provoking the Cagliari fans who racially abused him, while Lukaku was even given a second yellow card for quite literally standing up to Juventus supporters.
"Can someone make it make sense, please?" Common Goal wrote after the Belgian's red card in Turin. "For too long there have been calls for real punishments for racism in football and for too long they have been ignored.
"It is abundantly clear there isn't enough being done to combat racism in the game, [which] has made headlines throughout the world this year, with attacks against Vinicius Jr exemplifying the work football still needs to do…
"The whole world of football – from clubs to federations to fans – needs to take racism in the game seriously. The burden shouldn't fall solely on those subjected to racist abuse to stop it."
GettyFans that stay silent are 'complicit'
It's often been argued (usually by presidents and chairmen of clubs failing dismally to tackle the racist element in their fan base) that it's not right to punish the majority of supporters because of the actions of a small minority.
But Maignan obliterated that argument the day after the game in Udine, stating: "The spectators who were in the stands, who saw everything, who heard everything but who chose to remain silent, you are complicit."