FIFA: Racism is bad
Only in soccer (and the Ku Klux Klan softball league) do you have to remind players and fans that racism is bad. From fans making monkey noises and throwing bananas to yelling monkey at other players, soccer has the market cornered on blatant racism in professional sports. (Well, maybe Canadian hockey has a small market share.) It’s gotten so bad that FIFA has created new anti-racism rules. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that the rules are in effect next season and will also apply to the World Cup.
At the first sign (of racism) there will be a deduction of three points, then we are finished with the problems of discrimination.
We think he meant discrimination in soccer. If only it were that easy to deduct points in real life. Fans and officials can also be given fines for “any act or expression of a discriminatory and/or contemptuous nature.”
Interestingly enough, Blatter said it was not FIFA’s place to tackle the problems of prostitution — there are expected to be 60,000 prostitutes imported into Germany for the Finals. Minorities: protect; Women: who cares. Got it, FIFA.
We in FIFA, we are not responsible for the morality and the ethics of the whole population of the world. We should go against gambling. We should go against drugs. We should go against religion. We should go against weapons, and so on. This is not our duty, our duty is football.
Links:
[Sign On San Diego]: Blatter says anti-racism rules will apply at World Cup
[IPS news]: World Cup – a Magnet for Forced Prostitution?
