Raheem Sterling: newspapers 'fuel racism' in football | Vital Football

Raheem Sterling: newspapers 'fuel racism' in football

Chippy_Tea

Chippy_Tea

Vital Squad Member
Newspapers are helping to "fuel racism" by the ways in which they portray young black footballers, says Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling.

It comes after Sterling, 24, faced alleged racist abuse from Chelsea fans during City's 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police are investigating the allegations.



In his post, England international Sterling cites newspaper headlines about team-mates Tosin Adarabioyo and Phil Foden buying houses.

The headline referring to 21-year-old defender Adarabioyo - who is on loan at West Brom - focuses on how he spent £2.25m on a property "despite having never started a Premier League match".

By contrast, midfielder Foden, 18, "buys a £2m home for his mum" and is later described as having "set up a future".

"You have two young players starting out their careers - both play for the same team, both have done the right thing, which is buy a new house for their mothers who have put in a lot of time and love into helping them get where they are," Sterling said.

"But look at how the newspapers get their message across for the young black player and then for the young white player.

"I think this is unacceptable, both innocent, have not done a thing wrong but just by the way it has been worded, this young black kid is looked at in a bad light, which helps fuel racism and aggressive behaviour."

Read in full - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46498849
 
Well said Raheem.

After the despicable treatment he was subjected to yesterday for him to speak out in such a measured way and not refer to the abuse he received - remarkable and very mature :clap: :tophat:
 
Sadly the political climate seems to empower white people to act in this way (I'm assuming the journalist was white) - the alleged racist at Chelsea included. And of course not just limited to footballers. The times they are a changing and it isn't good...
 
Sunday Supplement covered this incidentin theirfirst segment this morning. Roundly condemned the incident and highlighted the responsibility that must fall on how the media have treated Sterling.

My question is........where are the football authorities? I have yet to see them (The FA, The PL, The PFA) come out loudly and visibly to condemn the incident and confirm WTF they are doing? Last weekend we had the banana skin thrown onto the pitch at Aubameyang, seven days later this ..........their silence and inaction is disgraceful
 
I’m so proud of Raheem for doing this. What I want to see, though, is the acknowledgement that it is the pro-Liverpool hacks who have been driving this relentless agenda against him ever since he left them for us.
The Chelsea fans are coming in for some stick but this should not detract from his main point which is, indeed, the media who are to blame. FFS, we’ve known this and been saying this on here from day one!
 
it is a problem which seems to be growing rather than being dealt with by the authorities. No abuse is acceptable racist or otherwise
 
The slow response drives me crazy. I witnessed the footage live. It was shameful but very no action was taken at the time. IMO the footage should have been passed/viewed immediately by the Chelsea security staff and the police and those identified should have immediately been removed from the ground and /or arrested on the spot. There was reasonable grounds for believing that offences had been committed, sufficient prima facie evidence that could have been acted upon and dealt with at the time.

Had they indulged in this threatening behaviour in the street, in a public place, the victim could have reported the matter and rightly expected those identified to be dealt with robustly including by arrest of the offenders. The failure of the stewards and the police to do anything at the time to remove these vile individuals is shameful. The authorities need to get a grip and stop sitting on their hands.

This would have sent out an instant message - there has to be zero tolerance. It is unacceptable that you can be allowed to safely hurl abuse at someone inside a football ground, behaviour which in a shopping mall, at a bus stop or outside a nightclub would make you liable to arrest.
 
There was an interesting discussion on Talkshite (yeah, I know) which I missed most of, but I gather it was whether not just alcohol is fuelling rage and racism but drugs too. These people seem to have no self-control and it wouldn’t surprise me if the acceptability of drug-taking these days is causing people to lose their inhibitions and control.
 
Rising said:
There was an interesting discussion on Talkshite (yeah, I know) which I missed most of, but I gather it was whether not just alcohol is fuelling rage and racism but drugs too. These people seem to have no self-control and it wouldn’t surprise me if the acceptability of drug-taking these days is causing people to lose their inhibitions and control.
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I don't think Alcohol or Drugs have anything to do with the abuse, Skoorb is right (see above) that fans seem to think abuse is acceptable at games.

I know we all condemn Cantona for his karate kick on a fan (quite rightly) but he too was subject of abuse and The authorities have done nothing to stop it.
 
The vitriol and bile fueled rants witnessed yesterday might have had that behind them, I have no idea but I was shocked at these guys - not young teens or twenty-somethings, these were middle aged men. They should have been dragged out in public.

I hope their families and friends have enjoyed seeing them splashed all over the media today. They should be ashamed and embarrassed. I don't know why their faces have been fuzzed out on some pics or tv reports. They should be given nowhere to hide.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
 
Remove them immediately. Stop the game if necessary for as long as it takes.

Where are the statements from Richard Scudamore? From the head of the FA?

Spineless cowards.
 
Buzz Lightyear said:
I don't think Alcohol or Drugs have anything to do with the abuse, Skoorb is right (see above) that fans seem to think abuse is acceptable at games.

I know we all condemn Cantona for his karate kick on a fan (quite rightly) but he too was subject of abuse and The authorities have done nothing to stop it.
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I don’t know, Buzz, but there is a growing lack of self-control problem in society. You see more and more of it - road rage, fighting in shops, pubs, bars, everywhere. Something’s causing it.
I should add that in society in general abuse has been normalised. Why has it been allowed to happen? Lack of discipline in schools.
 
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i was looking at a few videos earlier and found this which i haven't seen definitely worth a watch -


 
Raheem has achieved his goal racism in football is all over the news this morning and that has got to be a good thing.
 
The main subject on BBC’s Radio 5Live this morning although the journo who penned the piece on Tosin is in denial. He is not alone though as I have to say the undertone of the bbc presenter, Rachel Burden, was defensive and sceptical. Not shy in putting forward her views her response in this case was one of cognitive dissonance- she couldn’t quite bring herself to believe that the media/press could be in any way guilt of institutional racism.

Wonder how the main ‘hater’ is feeling this morning. Is his family proud of him do we think?
 
I have a horrible feeling in the case of the "main hater" the anawer would be yes.

I am listening to 5 live as I type this and Nicky has just said there has been a case over the weekend in Scottish football which the police are looking into, it seems racism has reared its ugly head again and social media is getting a lot of the blame.
 
I do think the internet/social media has a massive influence in this area in many senses. In respect of Sterling's point about the difference in the way both identical issues were reported I see the spectre of the dreaded 'clickbait' phenomenon. The decline of the print media and the increased focus on online presence has (IMO) encouraged the drive towards headline writing which entices people to follow their "ooh, that's interesting/salacious" tendency....
 
Racism has never gone away - just think the political climate is making certain parts of society more confident about expressing their vile opinions. As Rising points out it's not just confined to football but incidents like the banana thrown at John Barnes seem to belong to another age - it's still a shock to realise that this virus was lying low and biding its time.

Sterling has handled it well - and the Daily Mail ought to be avoided like the plague, one that includes the Express, Sun et al
 
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