Racism in football: a call for collective action

Can it really be true that every time a black skinned footballer steps on the pitch he must be worried about being confronted with racially abused by the “fans”? Football is a sport that is meant to bring everyone together through unforgettable memories. But racism towards the players give us exactly the opposite. The racism destroys what is supposed to be good times both for the players and all the other fans, is that really the way we want to go with our beloved sport?

With our world becoming more digital, that also creates a lot of new problems which we need to find solutions for. The opportunity to tell the world your opinion has never been easier than now. On platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and so on, it takes no time to write what you think, and avoid other’s reaction to your opinion, by just hiding behind a digital wall. Extremely racist tweets, statements and comments has become a normality for black skinned footballers, and something that they need to address in their daily life. The football world need to stand together to fight this enormous problem, but how do we remove racism from the sport? I think that every involved part should do their best to make this the most beautiful sport in the world again. The clubs need to investigate the ones who shouts racially at the stadium, the fans need to stand together against these idiots ruining it for everybody else, and the social medias need to have enough information about the people writing these comments, so it can be used in the court. The government also needs to make stricter laws for these types of situations. But I think the best way to address this problem is that the fans stand together, because football fans have shown before that they can stand together and make solutions for big problems. If you get told by someone you know personally and respect, that racism does not belong in football, then in my opinion people will think about it next time. This problem needs to be solved from the inside, and that starts with the fans. The fans need to affect each other for the better, and remove racism from stadiums, social media platforms and so on.