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UK > Black power, BLM,

Blackness, Black British identity

December 21, 2011

The New York Times

By JERÉ LONGMAN

John Terry, captain of England’s national soccer team and the powerful club Chelsea, faces a criminal charge over accusations that he made a racial slur during an October match, apparently becoming the first player to be prosecuted for remarks said on the field.

The accusation against Terry, which he denied, represents an escalation in the attempt to stem the persistent and widespread problem of racism in European soccer.

On Tuesday, the Uruguayan forward Luis Suárez, who plays for Liverpool of the English Premier League, was suspended for eight matches and fined about $63,000 for making abusive remarks in an October game toward Patrice Evra, a black defender from France who plays for Manchester United.

On Wednesday, the Crown Prosecution Service, the agency responsible for laying criminal charges, said it had charged Terry.

Antiracism officials said they were encouraged by the actions taken against Terry and Suárez. But they cautioned that international soccer had lately sent mixed messages about discrimination despite a campaign over the past five years to reduce racial smears made on the field and in the stands. Fans in some European countries have been known to throw bananas and peanuts, and direct monkey chants, toward black players.

Sepp Blatter, the embattled president of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, was widely criticized last month after trying to minimize the extent of racism on the field and suggesting that any player who felt affronted should settle the matter with a postgame handshake.

The Terry and Suárez cases represent “a very important step that sends two messages,” said Lord Herman Ouseley, chairman of the London-based antidiscrimination organization called Kick It Out. “If you are inclined to behave like that, you are not going to get away with it,” he said. “And it’s encouraging to black players, who have often felt, ‘Why bother, it’s a waste of time.’ Most thought nothing would come out of these allegations.”

At the same time, Ouseley said in a telephone interview that he would withhold judgment on English soccer’s long-term determination to stamp out racism until Terry’s case played out through the judiciary and Suárez decided whether to appeal his ban by England’s soccer federation, known as the Football Association. He has 14 days to file an appeal.

“We will have to wait and see whether there is consistency and durability in application of a high standard of conduct, backed by strong investigation and discipline with penalties, or whether this is a one-off, and we go back to leniency and complacency,” Ouseley said.

The English Premier League is considered the world’s best club competition and features many of the top international players. Two-thirds are foreign-born. Racial sensitivity in the league has increased substantially in recent years, and the atmosphere is considered far more embracing than leagues in Spain and Italy. Yet, the Terry and Suárez cases indicate that English officials are still troubled by some abusive on-the-field behavior.

Terry, who is 31, appears to be the first player to face a criminal charge of racism, said Ouseley and Howard Holmes, founder of another London-based antidiscrimination group called Football Unites, Racism Divides.

“I can’t find any other case where the police were involved,” Holmes said in a telephone interview. “There have been a number of instances that have gone to court, but they’ve been fan-based.”

Terry, who is white, is accused of making a racist remark during an October match toward Anton Ferdinand, a black defender who plays for Queens Park Rangers, a London rival of Chelsea.

A hearing for Terry is scheduled for Feb. 1. He is charged with violating Britain’s Crime and Disorder Act (of) 1998, which focuses on antisocial behavior. If found guilty, the maximum fine he faces is about $4,000, but a conviction could cost Terry the captaincy of his club and national team, his reputation and his ability to earn endorsement money.

“I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case,” Alison Saunders, London’s chief crown prosecutor, said in a statement.

Terry has denied the charge, saying the context of his remarks was misunderstood. He said in a statement Wednesday, “I have never aimed a racist remark at anyone and count people from all races and creeds among my closest friends.”

According to The Guardian newspaper of London, Ferdinand did not immediately realize what Terry had said to him during the October match. Rather, Ferdinand grew concerned later when the encounter between the two players drew widespread attention on social media sites. He later saw footage of the confrontation that had been posted on the Internet.

Terry has said that he thought Ferdinand was accusing him of making a racial slur during their encounter and responded to Ferdinand by saying he would never use such a term.

The situation is complicated because Ferdinand’s brother, Rio, is a partner of Terry’s in central defense for England’s national team. And it was Rio Ferdinand who scathingly challenged Blatter’s suggestions last month that players should resolve racial tensions with handshakes. Via Twitter, Rio Ferdinand, who plays with Evra for Manchester United, called Blatter’s remarks “condescending” and “almost laughable.”

Blatter was widely ridiculed and Hugh Robertson, the British sports minister, urged him to resign. Blatter declined to step down but said he regretted his remarks and promised “zero tolerance” of racist behavior in soccer. A FIFA campaign against racism began at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The widespread reaction against Blatter’s remarks in England, as well as the social media response to the Terry incident, undoubtedly influenced the Suárez suspension and the decision to prosecute Terry, said Holmes, the antidiscrimination official.

“We can’t adopt a holier-than-thou attitude and, when it’s in our backyard, wash our hands of it,” Holmes said.

Suárez, the Liverpool forward, was accused of using a racial term 10 times against Evra in an October match against Manchester United. Suárez has said that he did not realize that language that was acceptable in his native Uruguay was considered racist in England.

“I understand the point about cultural differences,” Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the union for England’s professional soccer players, told British reporters Wednesday. “But if you come to this country, all players have to abide by not just the laws of the game, but the laws of the land as well.”

Liverpool has vigorously defended Suárez. During warm-ups for their match against Wigan on Wednesday, his teammates wore white T-shirts with an image of Suárez on the front and his name and his number, 7, on the back.
 

Rob Hughes contributed reporting from London.

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