Flares dampen Sydney derby blockbuster
Michael Lynch and Scott Spits review the weekend A-League action, including the fiery Sydney derby.
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When sporting authorities talk about zero tolerance for racist abuse they have to mean what they say – and start dishing out heavy penalties, lengthy bans and fines for players and fans who abuse opponents or players of rival clubs on the basis of their skin colour.
No mealy-mouthed equivocation, no double standards because one perpetrator is a star player and the other isn't, no dual sentence provisions because one racist chanter on the terraces is a teenager and the other is a 50-year-old.
Offenders have to learn that such abuse has no place in the game by using punishments they understand – suspending players, and depriving fans of the right to watch their team.
Racism raised its ugly head on a controversial weekend for the A-League, along with the vexed issue of flares, following the Sydney v West Sydney Wanderers clash that took place in a fevered atmosphere at Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Wellington's Paul Ifill alleged he was racially abused by a small section of the Hindmarsh crowd during his side's 3-1 loss to the Reds.
Ifill is one of the best players in the league and has made an enormous impression since coming to NZ after spending the bulk of his career playing in the Championship and Premier League in England with Millwall, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.
He is also black – one of a growing number of black players, some from England, some from Africa and many of local origin, who are starting to make a mark in the A-League.
As the number of black or mixed race players in the competition increases the FFA has to ensure that it cracks down, and cracks down hard, on any supporters who abuse players on the basis of skin colour.
For the defenders of the racists who seek to explain it all away as good-natured banter, that is not good enough.
It's not banter. It is rude, ignorant and prejudiced.
If you are an Adelaide fan and Ifill is pulling your team apart because he is having a great game, it's OK to give him stick because you can't stand the fact that his superior skills are causing the Reds problems. It's the same sort of stick fans dish out to Brisbane's Besart Berisha, or the criticism that used to emanate from the terraces when Kevin Muscat was leading Victory to championships. That's part of the theatre and humour of the game.
But it's not acceptable to abuse a player on the basis of his skin colour. There's nothing funny about that.
The fact that this is not self evident to some illustrates that this is not a sport-specific problem but, as we all know, a societal one.
Too many, alas, want to use sporting occasions to display their prejudice.
Flares were also a topic of debate following the Sydney derby. For soccer haters, flares are the gift that keeps on giving – offering them a chance to accuse supporters of putting lives in danger and sparking riots.
Flares might be a big part of the game in Croatia, Italy, and other parts of Europe. They are not a part of the game here.
They can hurt people, they can cause distress. And they also create massive problems for the club whose supporters let them off, sullying the club's image and attracting fines from the game's governing body.
Flares are not a societal problem. They are a problem with a small, mainly youthful section of soccer supporters who seem to think it's cool to copy what most of them have only seen on television. The sooner they wise up the better, as clubs will crack down hard on the perpetrators.
Is ripping one really worth a five-year ban?
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