Show racism the red card

by Chris Robinson 16/10/2003

FOOTBALL fans are being urged to show racism the red card this week as clubs around the country are to unite for National Anti-Racism Week.

This year sees the tenth anniversary of the Kick It Out campaign aiming to kick racism out of football, with a series of events being held between October 16 and 28.

Preston North End is supporting the campaign with events leading up to the Ipswich game on Saturday 25, where there will be a fun day including an African tribal dance and players will be giving away T-shirts.

The club has also allocated one thousand free child tickets for the day making links with more than 30 schools in the area.

Encouragement

Kay Patterson, Achieving Racial Citizenship (ARC) Development Officer with Preston North End, said the encouragement of achieving racial diversity in the game is a major stepping stone in solving the problem of race relations.

She said: “Kick It Out is successful in encouraging awareness for young fans. Although National Anti-Racism week is only held once a year, there should be an ongoing constant campaign.

"It’s very rare that extreme racial cases do arise in football but they do exist. I know of one club where a Sikh player was offered a first team position only if he cut his hair.

Problem

"Obviously we cannot deny there is a problem with fans in general. The kids need to be told every day that if you live it then you are a part of it."

It is estimated that about 15 per cent of professional footballers are black, and at the start of this season there were no British-born Asian pros playing regular first team football in England and Wales.

Bhikhu Patel, Racial Equality Officer at the Racial Equality Council, insisted racism is more prominent in football than the city itself.

Communities

He said: "If you are talking about overt racial harassment in areas such as vandalism and attacks, then this is not a big problem. Communities are aware of a danger so they avoid certain areas where problems may arise. Communities here have adopted a non confrontational lifestyle.

"Football however is a breathing ground for racism with racist chants, especially in the area surrounding the stadium which has a large Asian community.

"The Kick It Out campaign is a good way to educate young people to adopt a non-racial approach to the game, but there should be more support at the grounds to control the fans. This all involves money and people are not willing to put money into the scheme."

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