Racism in football shows shallowness

I always believed that development goes hand in hand with civilisation but honestly, this belief has been tested and found wanting by the behaviour of several Europeans.

Saturday, January 05, 2013
Ivan R. Mugisha

I always believed that development goes hand in hand with civilisation but honestly, this belief has been tested and found wanting by the behaviour of several Europeans. In this day and age, some "civilised” people in Europe still go to football stadiums only to have a go at players of a different colour and race. A team like Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg is proud of fans that are apparently so "civilised” that they officially warned their club against signing black footballers.This is inspite the fact that they still crave to play in Europe’s elite competitions where thousands of black players will play against them. Question is- why don’t they just start their own league of white people? Of course they wouldn’t; they know that not a single person would be willing to invest in stupidity.The inaction by UEFA to impose serious punishment on the clubs and fans guilty of racism has left very many players feeling unprotected by their employers. Black players are even scared to walk off the pitch once racially abused because according to UEFA rules, only the referee can stop a match, and if a player walks off, he gets a straight red card. What kind of crazy "brainless civilisation” is this? (Forgive my lack of better description). Once again this "civilised” behaviour happened last Thursday, during a friendly match between AC Milan and Pro Patria, an Italian fourth division club. Instead of supporting their club, Pro Patria’s mug head fans turned to Kevin Boateng, a Ghanaian, and directed all kinds of racist insults at him.The former Tottenham star decided it was too much and walked off the pitch. Good enough, his teammates followed him to the dressing room and the game had to be called off.Finally, the "wise” racists had got their wish- they missed an opportunity to play against one of the world’s classic clubs which has a host of black players in its history, including,  George Weah, Marcel Desailly, Dida, Cafu, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.The sports achievements of any players mentioned above are head and shoulders above the achievements made by all Pro Patria’s players combined. So, the racist noise these petty white supremacists make serves to only expose their level of ignorance.Arsenal won’t qualify for Champs LeagueTo all those who love gambling, this is the right time to bet. Go to the bank, withdraw all your money and place it on Arsenal FC missing out on finishing in the top four! More than ever before, this season is slowly curving out to be Arsene Wenger’s last time to lie to the Gunner faithfuls.For close to a decade, Wenger has instilled a belief in and around the Emirates club that trophies are second option to finishing in the top four-and he has delivered against all odds. Arsenal has indeed been making it to the top four, sometimes in the weirdest of circumstances.The last time they almost failed was in 2006, when Tottenham players were food poisoned on the last day of the season. All that Tottenham needed to finish forth was a draw, but they went on to lose the game against West Ham and thus, Arsenal slid into fourth. Before the match, Tottenham players had been taken to hospital for food poisoning.The Gunners have had some impressive results this season against Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool, but that is just about it. They neither have the steam nor a Van Persie, to push them to the limits. All they have are second-best rejects from other clubs who do not seem to know where to score or where to defend.The only gem in the side, Theo Walcott, doesn’t look content playing for a side that has been rejected by top class players like Fabregas, Alex Song and RVP. Because of injuries, the other young promising gem, Jack Wilshire, is no longer the Messi-like character that mesmerized us two seasons ago.I have made my analysis and believe that this is the breaking season the former stylish attackers, and as stands now, not even food poisoning can save Arsenal’s season.