BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Dealing with Europe's shame



By Stan Collymore Ex-Premiership star and now summariser for BBC Radio Five Live

From a black man's perspective, I expect to be able to go anywhere in the world and be treated the same as anyone else.

But the racism problems in places like Russia and Slovakia are not so different to those in this country in the 70s and 80s.

As a child, I remember watching television programmes like 'Love Thy Neighbour' in which black people were made to look like fools.

John Barnes, along with most other black players, was racially abused in this country when he first started playing and had bananas thrown at him.

But because of the boom in the early 90s - that all changed.

John Barnes
Barnes was a victim of racist abuse in England

Big corporations would not have invested their money in football unless they had had some guarantees that racist chanting and the like would be eliminated.

If a fan is found to be chanting racist abuse now, he is kicked out of the stadium - but that doesn't mean that the problem has evaporated, it just means that it's become unacceptable in a football stadium.

There are still not many black or Asian people who regularly go to football matches so something is still not quite right.

And we have lived in a multi-racial society for many years - Eastern European countries do not have that benefit so inevitably it will be much harder to educate them.

I was in Bratislava for England's game against Slovakia and the racial abuse of Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole was a disgrace.

Slovaks apologise for racism

Actually, I was very surprised when it started.

Every time Emile or Ashley got the ball, there was almost wholesale abuse

I had walked around the stadium for about an hour before the game getting a feel for the atmosphere and the people were very friendly, without a hint of malice.

But as soon as the game kicked off, every time Emile or Ashley got the ball, there was almost wholesale abuse.

However, I don't think those chants were about pure vitriol.

In countries like Slovakia, black football players are not a common sight and I think the response of the fans was down to Emile and Ashley sticking out like sore thumbs in their eyes.

The problem will not be solved overnight - but hopefully it will gradually improve.


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