Racism Abounds

On March 3rd and 4th, the Unite Against Racism conference will be held in Warsaw, Poland. The conference is a partnership between UEFA, the players' union FIFPro and the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network designed to deter racism both on and off the pitch. Sadly, this can't come soon enough.




Although Lyon were happy with their 3-1 victory over Le Havre to cement their place atop the Ligue 1 standings, the game was marred by John Mensah (seen above) receiving 2 yellow cards. The reason for his angry play on the pitch appears to be the racial insults hurled his way by a Le Havre supporter, who was eventually arrested in the 55th minute.

The entire Olympic Lyonnais club has rallied around the Ghanaian defender. Gaffer Claude Puel has stated publicly that he should have substituted Mensah when it became obvious that the player was psychologically affected by the racist taunts. In addition, club president Michel Aulas noted that the taunts began during warm-ups and were directed towards Kader Keita, Frederic Piquionne and Karim Benzema as well as Mensah, but that the latter seemed to bear the brunt of the "monkey noises" that were made.

Really? Monkey noises? Why can't people just make Titus Bramble jokes?

Read more on "Racism Abounds"...

Can Someone Do More Than Ban Him?

Know what's hysterical?

Racial epithets. Seriously. Try it. Walk up the next black person you see and call him the N-word. Or if that's a skosh much for you, maybe just call him a 'spearchucker' or 'jungle bunny.' Hilarity will ensue.

Ridiculous right? Well, that's what happened to DC United keeper Louis Crayton—not the hilarity, just the epithet—after the team's scoreless draw against the Dynamo in Houston last night (Sunday). Somehow Crayton, a native of Liberia, kept enough composure to respond to the offender in a rational manner instead of maybe dismembering him. Crayton recounts:

"It is so sad that he would say that to me," Crayton said. "I am saying hi to the fans and he walked up to me and told me, 'Hey, you're a monkey, go back to the jungle.' I told him, 'Hey, you can't say that to me. I am not a monkey, I am a human being like you.' I jumped over to ask him why he insulted me, and he kept going."

The person in question was escorted from the grounds by Robertson Stadium officials and banned from Dynamo games indefinitely. It's a pretty sorry event. And if there is any silver lining it's that it didn't escalate into anything violent.

As a fan of football—not to mention a human in general—this is disappointing to say the least. For all the positive aspects of the game we're trying to import from around the world, racism isn't on the list and shouldn't be tolerated. Assuming this is all accurate, anything the Dynamo or MLS can do beyond simply banning this person it totally cool with us.

Read more on "Can Someone Do More Than Ban Him?"...

PSG Supporters Don't Play Nice

During the French League Cup Final on Sunday, March 30th, contested between Paris Saint-Germain and Lens, some PSG supporters made the brilliant decision to unfurl a banner which described people from northern France as unemployed, inbred paedophiles.

The rest of the sad story of racism in French football after the jump.

Look closely at that map and you will find that Paris, umm, is in northern France. However, PSG supporters do not trifle with mere facts of geography, and choose to ridicule anyone outside of the Ile-de-France, despite the fact that Lens, in the Pas-de-Calais, is a mere 200km (124 miles) from Paris. This is a bit like people from New York City making fun of people from Yonkers.

(side note: I was born and raised in NYC, and my family in France lives relatively close to Paris. Apparently, this makes me an asshole.)

I could understand, perhaps, the insinuation that people living in the more northern areas of France (i.e. anyone outside of Paris) are lower-middle-class (i.e. "unemployed" to the PSG supporters) and rural (i.e. "inbred" to the PSG supporters), but "paedophiles"? Really? Living outside of Paris qualifies one as deserving of a visit from Chris Hanson?

Although both PSG and Lens have filed complaints about the behavior of these fans with the Ligue de Football Professionel (and a hearing is scheduled this Thursday), this is far from the first (or worst) incident of xenophobic and offensive behavior from PSG fans. In the first years of the club back in 1972-1973 (after the club split from Paris F.C.), the management made the conscious decision to try and replicate the atmosphere of the kop at Anfield (see? I blame Liverpool!). Unfortunately, this resulted in the creation of a beast beyond their control, as far-right fans seized the ooprtunity to adopt a football club and form a "firm" in the tradition of English hooliganism. What followed was decades of neo-Nazi, racist propoganda and violence.

After losing a UEFA Cup group match against Hapoel Tel Aviv, 4-2, in Paris, the fans in the Stand of Boulogne (i.e. the "kop" end) responded with violence, attacking a French supporter of the Tel Aviv club. When a black policeman came to his aide, both were met with a shower of racist chants and projectiles. After firing several canisters of tear gas, the policeman opened fire, killing one PSG supporter and wounding another. The Stand of Boulogne was closed for two months.

However, lest one think that it is only my childhood club of PSG that is responsible for deplorable behavior, it should be noted that racist violence has reared its head throughout Ligue 1 (and even Ligue 2 - who says they can't compete?). In a game between Metz and Valenciennes, which Metz won 2-1, a far-right fan group known as "Identity Youth" made racist comments throughout the match towards Valenciennes captain Abdeslam Ouaddou. After the match, as Metz players threw anti-racism T-shirts into the stands, the "Identity Youth" members further solidified their stupidity by responding with Nazi salutes (although they have yet to sit in the stands in the shape of a swastika - we're not in Croatia, people!).

What can be done about this nonsense? Fear not, I'm assuming that Michel Platini will find the solution after he is done curing cancer.

Read more on "PSG Supporters Don't Play Nice"...