Football Racism – A Cesspool

“I’m Marcus Rashford, 23 year old, black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that.”

– Marcus Rashford on his social media statement after racist abuses following his penalty miss in the recently concluded Euro’s final

As fate would have it, three players of colour had missed their penalties in the shootout against Italy in the Euro final. England, as George Caulkin put in his Athletic article was “sick with defeat. Sick with love and the horror of hope”. All that might be true but England had also been entirely oblivious to the reason why they lost because they had already found their scapegoats in the three players of colour. England did not care that their team was mentally fragile and they lost a final at home after taking the lead in 2 minutes to a side who had two of their first-team fullbacks missing. England did not care that their inexperienced manager was totally outclassed for the majority of the game by a much more astute one. England needed an outlet and they got three – Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho. Social media platforms were filled with comments addressed towards them that had racial overtones and were filled with racial slurs. Marcus Rashford’s mural in Manchester was not spared either.

I don’t think anybody needs reminding that we are talking about a man who has been a vocal supporter of universal basic pay and has moved heaven and earth so that child hunger doesn’t remain an issue anymore in the UK. It begs the question that a man like this why does he have to fight so hard for his identity. The answer obviously is quite simple, criticizing his athletic prowess is a difficult conversation to have when it is culturally much easier to attack his identity. It might be a difficult sight for the Tory sympathizers and politicians that a young black man is doing more for the downtrodden than they would ever like to imagine.

To understand how much of a threat today’s footballing culture is to the identity of a black footballer we have to go no further from 2019. Back in 2019 after a crowd in Montenegro directed racist chants towards Danny Rose, he was quite clear that he did not expect UEFA to punish Montenegro severely. The lack of hope among black players is clear, Rose went on to say in an interview, “When countries get fined what I probably spend on a night out in London what do you expect? How I programme myself is that I think I’ve got five or six more years left in football, and I just can’t wait to see the back of it, seeing how things are done in the game at the minute, you just have to get on with it. There is so much politics in football. I can’t wait to see the back of it.“

A professional footballer who back then was playing at a top six Premier League club and has earned a few international caps is ready to see the “back” of the game which shaped him, which is his passion and he has made a career out of. It is incredibly astonishing that the footballing governing bodies have still failed to give some hope in the form of solutions. In a sport where action against racism have come down to mere tokenism, these types of reactions are hardly surprising.

We need to remember this is 2021, society has come forward, football needs to as well. It would be extremely misleading to say there isn’t scope for sweeping changes in football, other sports are doing it. Formula 1 reportedly are looking to appoint the changes recommended by Hamilton Commission to tackle misrepresentation in UK motorsports, presented by the first black Formula 1 driver Sir Lewis Hamilton in collaboration with Royal Academy of Engineering.

Amidst all of this, we however, cannot forget that these attacks have also brought people together. The racist incidents after the finals were extreme and radical in nature. Marcus Rashford’s mural in Manchester vandalized in the dark of the night, stayed on as a symbol of hate that the country was boiling with towards three young black players. It needed a response, a response to provide Rashford, Saka and Sancho with some hope, some support, to show them that they are still loved by the fans, for whom they play. As the sun rose over the infamous gloomy skies of Manchester, there swelled a crowd in front of the vandalized mural of Marcus Rashford. Children accompanied with elders have come to combat hate and tell a part of England that they can hate all they want but when they do, lyrics of love will be sung. England maybe sick with a lot of things – hope, defeat, systematic racism but as long as boys like Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho keep on inspiring people, she will live on to fight another day.

– Subhadro Sen Gupta