Every day, Talk Sport spends a load of time on fan abuse of football players. Racial and homophobic chants during matches, social media taunts, etc. Here, the media basically ignores this (trust me, it happens) and it is not given much attention unless it is over the top. My question is this, is it really as bad as the presenters are making it out to be? To someone not there, it is made out like there are mass groups holding up huge swastika flags and screaming out lyrics from Skrewdriver songs at every match. Is it as bad as they're reporting or is it just butt-hurt people?
It’s pretty bad. But I think there’s also a degree of of us as a society now saying that this isn’t ok - and nothing is going to change unless we flag it and change attitudes or the acceptability of this kind of abuse. It comes down to what kind of society we want to live in. There’s all sorts of stuff that was acceptable to say in 1980s Manchester where I grew up, that you wouldn’t say now (racial and disabled slurs etc) - is the world a better place now for having moved on? I think so. It comes at the cost of the odd overly PC overreaction as we find the balance but I’d rather deal with that and the Owen Jones of this world and have a more tolerant and inclusive society. I’m not sure that the US as a whole is quite in the same place as the UK on this front - certainly under this administration. But it will also depend on what state you’re in. I’ve spent a lot of time in Michigan in the last year, and with the exception of the odd trendy downtown district of Detroit (Ferndale for example) attitudes are much more socially conservative [for which read somewhat racist, or at least racism-tolerant] there than they are in Europe.
Regardless of bad it is, I do not see why it should be tolerated, in todays society and not highlighted. Just because some individuals hold such bigoted views (whether homophobic, racial, sexist, etc) don't see why others have to listen to it, nor be subject to it for 'doing their job'. The reporting of such incidents isn't over the top in my opinion. The bizarre thing is, it seems to be more predominant in the football world than any other sporting event/game. Can you imagine the spectators at Wimbledon, or Lords hurling such vile abuse? I don't think the recipients of the abuse hear anything that they haven't heard before, but not highlighting it and reporting it is akin to making it acceptable.
I agree that it is not acceptable, I do not agree with nor condone it. I just wanted to see if it was as bad as they make it out.
I didn't think for a sec you agreed with it etc, but unfortunately it is as bad as they make out. As already mentioned above, I do think some things have become an overreaction from the PC side of things, which can also be just as equally frustrating.
Perhaps if the players set a better example instead of arguing with refs, diving, spitting at others, feigning injury to deceive refs, match fixing, etc! then perhaps the fans might follow their example
Wait until Saints v Pompey this is real hatred that goes back years.....for me it's not that bad here we have gone to far to the left all fluffy rainbows and everybody counts ....having just returned from Carolina if that labour twat gets in power I have agreed with my family we are off to the land of the free ..as above when you see times getting tougher and 250k a wk acting like it does no doubt from certain parts of the land they are setting themselves up for abuse...
The sporting side of it shouldn’t make any difference WHAT SO EVER!! Any raciest is just a waste of oxygen in my book
Haven't been to a match in years. Racism wasn't that blatent, but the boundries were moving all the time. Apparently calling Baardiff sheepshaggers is now classed as racist. The press have decided to make an issue of it, whether in the public interest or for other gains I don't know, and so it is getting more prominence but I honestly can't say if it is better, worse or the dame as it used to be.
People that do not attend the stadium do not understand the tribalism before, during and after that is not just limited to the confines of the stadium. I regularly attend football matches and can confidently say that although I don't partake in racist or homophobic abuse, they are literally the only two forms of abuse that I do not spout. European games suffer far more from the right wing hatred you are referring to; particularly the farther east you travel.
I think people need to get over themselves. Too many people get offended on behalf of other people. I don’t agree with racial slurs etc as I’m not racist BUT you think back to Alf Garnett in the 70’s, did some old bigot on TV calling someone a sambo really effect anyone’s life? I doubt it! They were just thought of as bigots. The press have more to do with all this than anything else. People are sheep, if there’s someone with a mind to upset or offend anyone and they see the race stuff causing a furore in the press then that’s exactly the sort of stuff they'll peddle to get a rise. The press meddling regarding women in high profile jobs or just women not being paid the same as men is just another example, if a woman does a job as well as a bloke then fair play, she deserves the same but generally speaking women weren’t programmed to do the corporate jobs as they are now, and the ones who were were certainly a minority, but things change, the sooner the press stop meddling the better! And if someone calls me a sheepshagger I couldn’t give a fuck, where do you think salty lamb comes from!