English Soccer League Marred by Racist Incidents

by Ryan Duvall ‘21

Over the course of the 2019-2020 international club soccer season, there has been an outbreak of racist incidents. These incidents, typically occurring in Europe, start when fans get upset at players on the team they support or on the opposing team. Something needs to be done, as the continued racist abuse is hurting the legacy of soccer, a sport that has been historically diverse, breaking all kinds of barriers.

Over the past weekend, English Premier League clubs Manchester United and Manchester City faced off in their derby, a rivalry match between the crosstown rivals. The game did not disappoint, with United pulling out a narrow 2-1 victory. Unfortunately the headline of the game would not end up being the score, but rather the arrest of a 41-year-old City fan.

The arrest came after a video was posted on social media, showing the fan making “racist gestures” towards United players. The United players being harassed in the video were revealed to be winger Jesse Lingard and midfielder Fred, who are both black.

“The Chap must be ashamed of himself,” said Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. “It’s unacceptable and I hope he won’t be watching football anytime soon.” And one reason for the managers’ displeasure may be that this is not his first go around with racism. Back in August, two other United players were the victims of racial abuse in a wave of incidents.

In a span of just 10 days, three Premier League players were racially abused, including United’s Marcus Rashford and Paul Pobga. However, these attacks were different, as players were not attacked on the field, but virtually, on Twitter. Rashford and Pobga, standout players for the reds, were harassed on Twitter after missing penalty kicks in back-to-back games. The third player involved, Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, had a key penalty kick that was saved in the Super Cup final against Liverpool on August 14. Chelsea ended up losing that game, which led to fans sending offensive tweets to Abraham. One of the more disappointing groups in this situation has to be Twitter. Twitter did not take down the offensive comments made towards the players until Rashford was abused. But the problem is bigger than Twitter.

According to Kick It Out, English soccer’s anti-racism body, racism in continuing to grow, rising for the seventh straight season last year. The Premier League must find a solution before the situation gets any worse.