Racism isn’t some novel concept in sports, it is in the fabric of every single game and is often tied into the very foundation of every league. Yet in many parts of the world it at least seems like progress is being made to at least somewhat combat the racist behavior of fans, organizations and even players. The one place where it seems to be stuck at a stand still though is in the world of European soccer.
On an almost weekly basis, accusations of racist chanting from fans or players yelling slurs at one another are plastered all over the headlines of major European sports papers. Germany and Italy have two of the most toxic cultures, largely as a result of their fascist past and the racial resentment that built up. The leagues claim that they are working to identify the bad apples who start chants and organize racist displays, but the reality is that many league and club offices are complicit in this behavior as is the media.
Take for example the headline of a Corriere dello Sport paper from early December 2019. In large print are the words Black Friday, and then on opposite sides of the front page are pictures of Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling, two black players who are on opposing teams, but were teammates at a former club and were set to play each other that weekend. The article also described Lukaku and Smalling as two giants of color.
The paper was quickly condemned by many in the soccer world for what appeared to be a fairly obvious example of racially insensitivity, but bizarrely the director of the paper Ivan Zazzaroni doubled down on what was written and penned another article defending the headline choice. In the second article Zazzaroni claimed there was nothing wrong with the first article, and even went so far as to compare the criticism he and the paper were receiving to lynching.
As ridiculous as it seems, that was far from an isolated incident. Earlier in the season Lukaku was also the subject of racially insensitive remarks after a TV pundit stated that the only way to stop him is to give “him 10 bananas to eat”. The examples are innumerable, and it’s clear at this point that the league and many media outlets are stuck with a racist mindset. There is no clear solution for something as widespread and deeply ingrained as this, but a few simple changes like journalists being unafraid to call each other out or make more pointed and direct remarks about incidents would certainly be a step in the right direction, and much better than what the league decided to implement.
J4804 Laird 