Racist Chanting

[cordonbleu]

CSKA DF Berezutski who was subbed early in the 1st half and sat on the bench said on the phone, " I did not hear any shouting during the match, nothing like that. And not heard anyone talking about it after the game. I was very surprised when told about Yaya Toure '.

CSKA FW Doumbia, a fellow Ivorian footballer, remarked today that Yaya greatly exaggerated.

He would only upset his own club's owners, manager, players and supporters by saying that he'd heard these chants. The more witnesses that come forward, especially from within, the more likely it is that CSKA would be punished. Doumbia is only towing the company line.

Possible. On the other hand, you cannot just dismiss what they say just because they are not what you don't want to hear, or do not support your assertions.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Whilst I'm glad that people are outraged by what black players and gays suffer in Russia I do worry that some get on a high horse that Clyde Best and Alan Turing, to name but two, might have had issue with not that long ago. We did not cure our own problems of overt racism in football overnight and will not achieve it in Russia by demonising all Russians, Muscovites or even CSKA Moscow fans.

But the issue is the ownership of CSKA Moscow. They're the ones that are showing that they simply don't see racism as a problem and are attempting to sweep something under the carpet after millions of people saw it on TV. They're an embarrassment of a club and like any other club that isn't working to prevent racist abuse of players, they should be kicked out of the competition. There's nothing in that that suggests that all Moscow fans are racist or all Russians are racist. Although I'd be interested to know just how many CSKA fans who didn't join in actually had a problem with the chanting.

 

[johnny on the spot]

Yaya Touré's Ivory Coast team-mate says he is 'exaggerating' over racist chants

CSKA Moscow's Seydou Doumbia points finger at City man over abuse but Uefa to investigate

Yaya Touré's Ivory Coast team-mate Seydou Doumbia has accused the Manchester City player of “clearly exaggerating” his claims of the racist abuse he suffered at CSKA Moscow on Wednesday, as pressure increased on the Romanian referee, Ovidiu Hategan, for failing to stop the match.

Touré was subjected to racist abuse from CSKA Moscow fans during City's 2-1 win in the Champions League, which he informed the referee about, but CSKA asserted that their supporters had done nothing wrong. Doumbia, who played up front for CSKA, was the most surprisingly assertive, almost accusing Touré of making up his complaints.

"I didn't hear anything like that from the CSKA fans," said Doumbia, who has 20 caps for Ivory Coast and played with Touré for the national side this summer. "Yes, they are always noisy in supporting the team, and try to put as much pressure as possible on our opponents, but they wouldn't ever allow themselves to come out with racist chants. So my Ivory Coast colleague is clearly exaggerating."

Doumbia's reaction was just as unsympathetic as the rest of CSKA. A club statement said they were "surprised and disappointed" by the words of Touré and others connected with Manchester City, and that there was no case to answer.

"In many episodes of the encounter, especially with the attacks on our goal, fans made disapproving noises, booed and whistled to put pressure on the opposite side's players regardless of their race," the statement read. "In particular, this happened in the moments with Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko. It is not clear, why Touré took it all personally."

Uefa, though, have opened disciplinary proceedings against CSKA Moscow for racist behaviour of their fans and for setting off fireworks. The case will be dealt with by the Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body on 30 October.

There was increased pressure on Uefa – from Kick It Out and the Professional Footballers' Association – over the conduct of the referee Hategan, who should, under guidelines from Uefa, have spoken to officials when the racial abuse was reported to him. Lord Ouseley, the head of Kick It Out, demanded that Hategan be banned. "He failed to do his duty last night and that is a clear issue that Uefa should be dealing with," he told the BBC.

Bobby Barnes, deputy chief executive of the PFA, said that Touré could have expected Hategan to stop the game. "The player, having done what was asked of him to notify the referee, quite rightly expected that the referee would go speak with the safety officer, and the [Uefa] protocol agreed is that the safety officer should make a stadium announcement warning the fans that if the chants do not desist that the game will be stopped."

The criticism of Hategan is due to his failure to enforce the three-point protocol agreed between Uefa, Fifpro – the Professional Footballers' Union – and the European Clubs Association. Those three organisations, through the Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC), reaffirmed in March their commitment to Uefa's guidelines.

If the referee becomes aware of clear racism he shall "stop the game and ask for an announcement to be made over the public address system requesting the public to immediately stop such racist behaviour". If the racism continues, the referee "shall suspend the match for a reasonable period of time" and send the teams back into the dressing rooms. The referee can abandon the match as a last resort.

On Wednesday night Hategan did no such thing, failing to act on Touré's information. Fifpro is trying to find out why. A Fifpro spokesman told The Independent that they want to know why Uefa did not "stick to what they promised. We want to get to the bottom of this and will look closely in the coming days".

Barnes, who is also Fifpro division Europe president, said that he hoped Uefa would send a message. "I would certainly hope in line with the hardline stance that Uefa has stated and intends to use in these circumstances, they will make a meaningful sanction in this case."

Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported Touré also raised the spectre that black players could boycott the 2018 World Cup if there is any repeat. "If we aren't confident at the World Cup, coming to Russia, we don't come," he was quoted as saying. That stance was supported by Piara Powar, executive director of European anti-discrimination body FARE and a FIFA task force member. "I wouldn't blame them – if all the players said they are not going, there wouldn't be a World Cup," he said.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/yaya-tours-ivory-coast-teammate-says-he-is-exaggerating-over-racist-chants-8901698.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 01698.html</a>

 

[sir baconface]

The problem UEFA have is that this is a European tournament. Racism is rife within countries that have not yet been integrated with different racial, religious, or ethnic groups and until they do it is difficult to question whether these countries can treat all as equals. Unfortunately for football as this is the debate. Some of these countries are so far behind the more socially developed countries that it will take a whole Generation for them to catch up.

We could and will be having this same discussion for the next 10 years. Banning clubs and issuing fines is all well and good but it will not change anything. This isn't just an issue within football though football has the ability to be a stepping stone for change.

I see what you are saying, kippaxman. Penalties won't stop racism itself but should stop players being openly insulted. That's an important start. As you say, though, genuine change will take a lot longer.

 

[BlueHalli]

This is an iffy one . People are sayin clubs should get banned from the comp etc . I don't agree with this. I can't see how a club can control all 40,000/50,000 fans, you only need a couple of dozen idiots doin these racist chants. I think clubs should be made to pin point individuals and give them massive bans, but banning the club is just not fair IMO .

As for closed doors. This could be an option but then it could also indirectly punish the other team that has just played the side that has been punished . Just think if a team needed to go to that ground to get points in order to get out of the group . They'd have an advantage due to not having to play In front of the home fans . I feel this could play in the favour of the other teams that are yet to play there on the group stage .

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

What a gutless invertebrate Uncle Tom Orio cookie Doumbia and Dumber is.
How this utter apologist for racists can look himself in the mirror is beyond me.

 

[Riggers_Norden Blue]

I was actually thinking that the CSKA supporters were a pretty good bunch of fans , until one of the match commentator pointed out the racist chanting aimed at Yaya ....... there was absolutely no need for that , and they had black players themselves , which made their chants even more mystifying.

Hundreds of them ended up with no shirts on on a freezing Moscow night , and quite how a lone City banner came to be stuck upside down on the railings in front of their end was baffling ....... unless they'd nicked it off someone !

It was my flag the hanging upside down in their end ( a sign of disrespect) Walking to the coaches we were ambushed by a gang of their fans, and my flag was nicked from my bag. fortunately they legged it at that point, otherwise who knows how badly we could have been injured.

There is a happy ending, as I reported the flag to the Stewards who in conjunction with the CITY SLO retrieved the flag

 

[homerdog]

People are sayin clubs should get banned from the comp etc . I don't agree with this. I can't see how a club can control all 40,000/50,000 fans, you only need a couple of dozen idiots doin these racist chants. I think clubs should be made to pin point individuals and give them massive bans, but banning the club is just not fair IMO .

But in this case CSKA Moscow are complicit, because they have denied that any racist chanting took place - the chance to make an example of the club as a warning to others should be taken by UEFA. I won't hold my breath, however.

 

[Plaything of the gods]

For as long as the club is making no effort to stamp out racism, the club (and the fans) should get the punishment. The punishment should include an agreement between the club and UEFA on how to go about stamping out racism (e.g. CCTV monitoring and banning) which, if not adhered to, would lead to further punishment against the club.

But if the club is doing everything it can to stamp it out and racism persists, then the punishment should fall on the offenders or section of the crowd or whole crowd if the offenders can't be identified.

Never happen of course because football is run by money muppets.

 

[sir baconface]

I was actually thinking that the CSKA supporters were a pretty good bunch of fans , until one of the match commentator pointed out the racist chanting aimed at Yaya ....... there was absolutely no need for that , and they had black players themselves , which made their chants even more mystifying.

Hundreds of them ended up with no shirts on on a freezing Moscow night , and quite how a lone City banner came to be stuck upside down on the railings in front of their end was baffling ....... unless they'd nicked it off someone !

It was my flag the hanging upside down in their end ( a sign of disrespect) Walking to the coaches we were ambushed by a gang of their fans, and my flag was nicked from my bag. fortunately they legged it at that point, otherwise who knows how badly we could have been injured.

There is a happy ending, as I reported the flag to the Stewards who in conjunction with the CITY SLO retrieved the flag

Glad to hear you're safe and sound, Riggers.