What is the solution?

Racism problem: abandon the game or go to prison?

Real's Vinicius has frequently been the victim of racism and recently spoke very emotionally about it in a press conference.

(Bild: AP)

The European Football Championship kicks off in Germany in two and a half months. And one problem of this sport, which is supposed to unite people, is increasingly preoccupying the associations: the increasing racism in European stadiums. But what are the appropriate measures to solve the problem?

The German Football Association (DFB) launched an anti-racism project for its home European Championships back in March. The world governing body FIFA wants to adopt a corresponding resolution of all 211 member states at its congress in Bangkok in May.

The only question is: is symbolic politics alone enough in view of the scenes that have become more frequent in recent weeks, particularly in Italy and Spain? Or do we need other measures such as tougher penalties and quicker match abandonments if soccer wants to combat racist incidents in the long term?

Harsher punishments as a solution?
"What we see in soccer is not only a problem for society as a whole, but also has to do with soccer itself: Because nothing has been done about racism in this social arena for far too long, it has been tolerated for decades, almost normalized," says German racism researcher Lorenz Narku Laing from the Protestant University of Bochum. More severe punishments could help, he says: "We really need to think about whether matches should be abandoned and scored against the racist fan blocks."

Brazilian star striker Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid burst into tears last week when he was asked about racism at a press conference for his national team. On the Easter weekend, the 23-year-old then demanded via X: "Racists must be exposed and the games must not continue with them in the stands. We will only win if the racists leave the stadiums straight to prison, the place they deserve."

Vinicius has often been the victim of racist hostility - in the stadium and beyond. In 2021, a black doll wearing one of the striker's jerseys dangled from a bridge in Madrid - suspended as if from a gallows.

Bans and prison not convincing
However, researcher Laing is not convinced by stadium bans or even prison sentences for individual offenders. "My dream is actually that a man who unleashes a racist insult in the curve is told by his fellow human beings that this is not acceptable. Then the case should be reported and this person should be offered a seminar on racism by the sports association so that he really learns to understand for himself what it means, how much it hurts people."

In the end, the choice should be: stadium ban or seminar. "It's not just about ejections, more police in stadiums and bans, it's about more empathy, more fairness, more togetherness, forgiveness and actually an emotionally personal learning journey for the people who are behaving wrongly," says Laing.

At least in Spain's fourth division, the players recently set an example: The goalkeeper of suburban Madrid club Rayo Majadahonda was allegedly racially insulted by a spectator, went off on him and was shown a red card. In solidarity with the Senegalese player Cheikh Kane Sarr, his teammates left the pitch with him.

A problem in Italy too
In the Italian Serie A, things went the other way around in January. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan of AC Milan left the pitch because fans of Udinese Calcio had shouted racist chants at him. The game was stopped, but not abandoned: The Frenchman's own teammates persuaded him to continue in the dressing room. "Very often the mentality was: the footballer on the pitch has to be tough, he's a highly paid professional," explains Laing.

We really do need to think about whether matches should be abandoned and judged against the racist fan blocks.

Lorenz Narku Laing

There is a "new awareness in society that racism is wrong, even if it happens to millionaires". However, this awareness is still often lacking in soccer. "It's a problem that soccer has not yet managed to understand racism as a problem in its own right. Either you distance yourself from it because you say that it just happens in the heat of the moment. Or you distance yourself from it because you delegate it to the judiciary, the police, the lawyers," explains Laing.

Just last week, Italian international Francesco Acerbi was acquitted by a sports tribunal. He is alleged to have racially insulted the Brazilian Juan Jesus from SSC Napoli. Acerbi denied this and his club Inter Milan defended him. However, Juan Jesus, who has played in Italy for twelve years, is sticking to his accusation. In protest, his club no longer wants to take part in any anti-discrimination measures by the Italian association. These are now only "purely cosmetic initiatives", according to a Napoli statement.

A code of conduct is now to be introduced in Italy, which will be mandatory for all players and coaches. The sports minister of the center-right government, Andrea Abodi, announced a "charter of duties" in the newspaper "La Repubblica" (Wednesday edition). In addition to a ban on sports betting, drugs and doping, a commitment against racism is also to be laid down in the charter. Abodi suggested that such a charter should be signed every time a contract is signed between a club and a player. It should also explicitly include a commitment "not to behave or express themselves in a racist or discriminatory manner, regardless of the form, on or off the pitch," said the minister.

FIFA makes combating racism an issue
Back in 2011, the European soccer association UEFA introduced a three-step plan that can lead to the match being abandoned in the event of racist incidents in a stadium. First step: interruption of the match. Second step: sending players to the dressing room temporarily. Third step: abandonment.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino

(Bild: Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

But even the controversial FIFA boss Gianni Infantino apparently doesn't go far enough. "The problem is that we have different competitions, different competition organizers, different rules. And everything we do is obviously no longer enough," said the world association president at a UEFA congress in February. Infantino wants to make the fight against racism an issue in Bangkok in May: "We need a strong resolution. All together. All 211 countries of FIFA!"