Manchester City: Who Made Yaya Toure The Spokesman For All Black Footballers?
SHOULD black footballers boycott the Russia World Cup? Manchester City’s Yaya Touré says it’s an option he’s considering at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Manchester City powerhouse was racially abused in Moscow, where his team beat CSK 2-1 in the Champions’ League.
Uefa and the governing body of European football has now charged CSKA for the “racist behaviour of their fans”.
CSKA says it’s all nonsense. CSKA’s deputy media manager, Michael Sanadze told Sky Sports News:
“There is no subject to discuss. Nothing special happened. There was a lot of noise in the stadium. Nobody else, other than Yaya Toure, heard anything. The only trouble that has come about was because Yaya Toure heard something.”
A pox on his ears. The solution is to make all black footballer play wearing massive headphones. Might be an idea to blindfold them ,too, lest they see a mentally negligible fan pretending to be a monkey. That would be much fairer.
Seydou Doumbia, CSKA’s Ivory Coast forward is not in Toure’s camp:
“I didn’t hear anything like that from the CSKA fans. Yes, they’re always noisy in supporting the team, and try to put as much pressure as possible on our opponents, but they wouldn’t ever allow themselves to come out with racist chants. So my Ivory Coast colleague is clearly exaggerating.”
Writing in the Mail, Martin Samuel says:
On Thursday, CSKA wheeled out striker Seydou Doumbia, a team-mate of Toure’s with Ivory Coast, who was under no pressure at all to say the following: “I didn’t hear anything like that from the CSKA fans. Yes, they’re always noisy supporting the team and try to put as much pressure as possible on our opponents, but they wouldn’t ever allow themselves to come out with racist chants. My Ivory Coast colleague is clearly exaggerating. Please take those electrodes off my testicles now.”
Actually, that last part is made up. Doumbia didn’t really have electrodes on his testicles. Not literally, anyway. Metaphorically, you decide.
We can decide if he’s a liar? CSKA signed Doumbia for £8.3m in 2010. In 2010, they put a £26m buy-out clause in Doumbia’s contract. Is this well-paid, highly-prized player a tortured prisoner who can’t speak his own mind?
Toure is unconvinced that it’s passion not racism; that CSKA fans are attacking Toure because they fear him and want to put him off his game in any way they can:
“It’s very important. Otherwise we are not confident coming to the World Cup in Russia, we don’t come… Without them there will not be a World Cup in Russia. I wouldn’t blame them – in this era players are the most powerful force and if all the players said they are not going there wouldn’t be a World Cup, or if there was it would be meaningless.”
Who made Toure the spokesman for every black footballer? Toure will be 35 by the 2018 World Cup. Other African footballers who have not enjoyed his stella career may be unimpressed at coercion for them to miss their big chance.
He adds:
“I don’t know why it happens in football. I don’t know why you don’t get something like this in rugby or handball or any other sport, it’s just football. It is always the same. I am unhappy because the reaction of the fans was unbelievable. If Uefa don’t take action, it will continue. We always say there will be action or blah, blah, something like that, but we have to do that. Now with me, it happens again. I hope they do something, ban the club or the stadium for two years.”
Handball gets less fans that football. More fans means more chance of football featuring an idiot. Doubtless a few bigots like watching snooker, but making a monkey noise as a red is about to be potted would risk all kinds of censure. It’s easier to hide in a big crowd. But, then, other fans could tell you to shut up. CSKA fans, over to you…
Football is not uniquely racist. Toure is wrong. Football is one of the few areas of wealth where a young black man is not conspicuous by his presence. Along with the music industry, football is just about one of the least racist industries going. Toure himself played in the Ukraine. East Europeans picked him and paid him well to play.
Banning the club seems a better idea. Make the club deal with the problem in the stands.
The question might be why racism in football is always big news? Former England goalkeeper David James says that after being abused by Blackburn Rovers supporters in 1991, he experienced no racism:
“Since then, the only racism in football that I have experienced has come from isolated voices in the crowd. Even then it has been some years since I have heard anything like that.”
Why is racism the subject of a public inquiry?
The last word we’ll give to the Times reader who opined – and this comment was deemed fit for publication:
Unfortunately, dealing with the Slav races, you will find thuggery and obtuse behaviour amongst them…
That’s racist.
Posted: 25th, October 2013 | In: Sports Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
