December 12 – A week after a banana was thrown by a Tottenham Hotspur fan – inexcusable but a rare occurance in English football – the far more prevalent problem of verbal racism has again reared its ugly head.
Footage of England international Raheem Sterling being abused at Chelsea in the high-profile top-flight clash with his Manchester City team on Saturday has been universally condemned.
The TV pictures appeared to show one Chelsea fan calling Sterling a ‘f****** black c***’ , leading to an investigation by both the club and police.
Former England international Ian Wright, now a respected television pundit, declared that “the bad old days are back” whilst another, Rio Ferdinand, tweeted: “Are we going to continue to allow this type of racist behaviour go on???”
Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, who was racially abused in 2011 by then-Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, also expressed his dismay.
“How does this happen still in 2018?” he said of the incident at Stamford Bridge.
According to figures from anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, reports of discriminatory abuse in football increased by 11 percent last season, a sixth successive annual rise.
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) said it condemns the increase in racial abuse its members have been receiving and encourages all clubs to “take the strongest possible action for fans found guilty of racially abusing players”.
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