Mail.
England players should walk off in protest and abandon the match if any of them are racially abused during the Euro 2012 football competition, Labour said last night.Now I don't know who these people in the snap poll are, but they clearly understand about as much of the game as Wee Dougie.
The unprecedented call for a pitch protest by Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander came amid a growing political row over the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
And the view received strong support in a snap poll, which suggested six out of ten backing players who walk off.
Mr Alexander said that if, as many fear, black England players are abused when the team plays Ukraine on Tuesday week, the match should be stopped – with the points awarded to England.
If the England players walk off the pitch in protest about anything without the permission of the referee, that's known as forfeiting the match and the points go to the other team. This is usually followed up by FIFA imposing sanctions on the nation involved.
Now as Wee Dougie is a Scotsman perhaps he should just stop commenting on an English team and mind his own, or perhaps he'd just love England to be kicked out of the competition for breaking the FIFA code of conduct, he is a Scot after all and their sympathies when it comes to the English are suspect to say the least. Not that the press helps matters by producing Scottish editions highlighting the England teams progress, but that's just part of the ongoing 'British' mentality that pervades the MSM in the UK.
Either way, the race industry is talking out of its arse when it comes to what England's players can and cannot do within the framework of the rules of the game and the code of conduct they are expected to follow.
No-one likes overt racism or racism in general, however it's something that FIFA/UEFA will deal with after the match. It's not something the players are expected to do anything about during the match.
4 annotations:
Douglas Alexander can speak for England?
He hails from McBenefitsstan, if I recall.
I hope his children despise him for passing on (a) his shortness; and (b) the mark of Glasgow. I certainly do.
Once more, the delicate flowers of football have to suffer the searing choice of perhaps risking themselves to exposure to the cat-calls of someone who may wish to ensure he does not play as well as he could.
My heart bleeds…. NOT!
Whatever happened to the adage, “Sticks and stones…”?
In football, like many other tribal activities, part of the battle is to intimidate and demoralise the opposition. This is why the Maoris indulged in the dance now established with the All-Blacks; it is why troops throughout history have advanced with beating drums; it is why, with no drums available, the opponents would stand a safe distance apart, and beat their shields and their chests, stamp their feet, thump their weapons on the ground, usually accompanied by unified shouting, in the form of a chant – often accompanied by taunting and flaunting of sexual organs.
Now, the tribes are more civilised, preferring to meet in an arena, setting selected champions against one another. However, the demoralising attempts continue; knowing little about the persons concerned, the tribe merely mocks the visually obvious – height, colour of hair, colour of skin, artificial limbs (okay, few professional footballers have those – though many make claims that they play like they do!), and the obvious visual-impairment problems of the ref. The terraces have long rung to the chants and songs that each club adopted as their own anthems, all in an attempt to gain psychological superiority over the opposition.
And – hey! – now, it works! The players, deeply offended that someone has noticed and makes a mockery of certain of his physical attributes, slinks from the field of play, leaving other, perhaps less-gifted, team-mates to do battle, while he retreats to weep and take comfort from his security blanket. Perhaps he will stamp off, demanding that he should be allowed to take his bat home.
To mock another for attributes he was born with is facile; to take offence at the taunts of others is utterly puerile. Offence cannot be given; it can only be taken.
(Incidentally, I have posted this on the BBC - that bastion of free speech - POV site, with reference to the AM show this, erm, a.m. I have noted how it is being "moderated" - a.k.a. censored.)
Radical Rodent
What the Rodent said; anyone wishing to watch this in practice is advised to look up 'Zulu' on You Tube (not great at links, sorry)
If someone were to pay me the kind of money paid to the morons who play football .. they could call me anything they like, whenever they liked ..
Bunch of big tarts, the lot of 'em .. ;)
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