Despite proclaiming itself to be one of the leading countries in European football, Italian football has been unable to stamp down racism which players of African descent in AC Milan have felt more than once for a number of years
One of the biggest let downs of modern day football is the constant abuse players receive from a section of the crowd solely based on their skin colour. A wide variety of racial slurs have been experienced by players in many leagues in Europe. Try they might, but the local governing bodies have so far been unable to cut this weed out of the root.
As a trend that surely forces football to take one step backwards after going so far, racism continues to haunt Italian football which is a shame for a country that in past, boasted so many players of African origin who made a name for themselves at their respective clubs.
The likes of George Weah, Lillian Thuram, Patrick Vieira and Abedi Pele are to name just a few of many players of African descent who reached the heights of professional football in Italy.
Sadly though, despite being home to such great talents, Italian football has not been able to move on from a small segment of society that overshadows everything good that the game has achieved in recent times.
AC Milan in particular, have been constant victims of racial slurs wherever they have played. The likes of Kevin-Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari, Kevin Constant and Mario Balotelli have been bombarded with social slurs in many stadia this season.
Late last year, during a friendly game, Ghana international, Kevin-Prince Boateng had enough of it and chose to walk away from the game. Admirably, the former Tottenham man was followed by his teammates. One has to commend Boateng for showing maturity and an ironclad personality by not letting these things affect his game.
However, the same cannot be said of Mario Balotelli. One of the major reasons why the controversial striker left Inter Milan was to get away from the slurs coming from the people of his adopted country. Things did not work out for him in England and he came back to wear the colours of AC Milan. And although he has been excellent for the San Siro giants, a group of people hell-bent on putting the game to shame, have chosen to once again remind him of one reason why he left the country a few seasons back.
So much was he frustrated at it that the young striker finally burst out and stated that he will walk out if he is racially abused again. And if it indeed does happen again and Balotelli walks out, one cannot blame the young Italian.
Racism is becoming a huge problem and after seeing the governing body not doing much to prevent it, players will start taking the matter in their own hands.
During the game against AS Roma, most of the AC Milan players were distracted by the racist chants which definitely affected the team’s overall performances. It is quite understandable to get distracted by such things but it would be a much bigger victory if players let their game do the talking. It would be even better and professional if the likes of Balotelli, Boateng and Muntari up their game to show people that adverse situation will always get the best out of them.
Regardless of how queer or how violent a crowd is, it is perhaps the best bit of moral victory to silent those people who bring the name of the game to shame, by delivering excellent performances. People cannot be forced to review their respective stances on ethnicity. However, if these stances are questionable, a ‘perfect performance’ is a better answer to such people than walking out on them. Moreover, walking out will always make such people’s resolve stronger so it is much better not to give them a feeling of invincibility.
On Sunday, AC Milan play Siena who have already been relegated to Serie B. A win against Giuseppe Lachini’s side is important for Milan to guarantee a place in the Champions League next season, but it will also be a statement against sections of crowd who have repeatedly restored to sordid means to give football a bad name.
As a trend that surely forces football to take one step backwards after going so far, racism continues to haunt Italian football which is a shame for a country that in past, boasted so many players of African origin who made a name for themselves at their respective clubs.
The likes of George Weah, Lillian Thuram, Patrick Vieira and Abedi Pele are to name just a few of many players of African descent who reached the heights of professional football in Italy.
Sadly though, despite being home to such great talents, Italian football has not been able to move on from a small segment of society that overshadows everything good that the game has achieved in recent times.
AC Milan in particular, have been constant victims of racial slurs wherever they have played. The likes of Kevin-Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari, Kevin Constant and Mario Balotelli have been bombarded with social slurs in many stadia this season.
Late last year, during a friendly game, Ghana international, Kevin-Prince Boateng had enough of it and chose to walk away from the game. Admirably, the former Tottenham man was followed by his teammates. One has to commend Boateng for showing maturity and an ironclad personality by not letting these things affect his game.
However, the same cannot be said of Mario Balotelli. One of the major reasons why the controversial striker left Inter Milan was to get away from the slurs coming from the people of his adopted country. Things did not work out for him in England and he came back to wear the colours of AC Milan. And although he has been excellent for the San Siro giants, a group of people hell-bent on putting the game to shame, have chosen to once again remind him of one reason why he left the country a few seasons back.
So much was he frustrated at it that the young striker finally burst out and stated that he will walk out if he is racially abused again. And if it indeed does happen again and Balotelli walks out, one cannot blame the young Italian.
Racism is becoming a huge problem and after seeing the governing body not doing much to prevent it, players will start taking the matter in their own hands.
During the game against AS Roma, most of the AC Milan players were distracted by the racist chants which definitely affected the team’s overall performances. It is quite understandable to get distracted by such things but it would be a much bigger victory if players let their game do the talking. It would be even better and professional if the likes of Balotelli, Boateng and Muntari up their game to show people that adverse situation will always get the best out of them.
Regardless of how queer or how violent a crowd is, it is perhaps the best bit of moral victory to silent those people who bring the name of the game to shame, by delivering excellent performances. People cannot be forced to review their respective stances on ethnicity. However, if these stances are questionable, a ‘perfect performance’ is a better answer to such people than walking out on them. Moreover, walking out will always make such people’s resolve stronger so it is much better not to give them a feeling of invincibility.
On Sunday, AC Milan play Siena who have already been relegated to Serie B. A win against Giuseppe Lachini’s side is important for Milan to guarantee a place in the Champions League next season, but it will also be a statement against sections of crowd who have repeatedly restored to sordid means to give football a bad name.
