By Benjamin Lyngdoh
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (commonly known as ‘Pele’) famously epitomized football as ‘the beautiful game’. Indeed, football is a very popular sport globally (both in terms of participation and viewership). This popularity gives rise to a fan/support base which is the ‘heart and soul’ of football. As such, in most circles the fans/supporters are considered as the most important stakeholders in ‘the beautiful game’. They are responsible for creating an electrifying atmosphere in the stadia and performing as the 12th man. At times it seems as though national/international ‘relationships’ and/or ‘rivalries’ are defined in terms of football. Amidst this heated/animated realm there are cases of overflowing emotions percolating into irresponsible expressions of supremacy. Contemporarily in football, this is mostly expressed in terms of ‘my race against your race’. Hence, the problem of racism in football! At the moment, this problem hangs like a ‘Damocles Sword’ thereby threatening to permanently tarnish and destroy what we all enjoy so wholeheartedly. Moreover, if we think that this is a western problem, then we are in for a rude shock. This is because it is a problem here in Shillong too. Accordingly, I place the following pointers –
Firstly, let us lay down what is racism and what are its specificities? The ‘United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’ defines ‘racial discrimination’ (thereby implicitly implying ‘racism’) as ‘any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise on an equal footing of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life’. The definition is exhaustive and it outrightly clubs together ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’. As a result this also impinges upon traits of heritage, culture and tribalism with one scoop (as these are closely associated with ethnicity). Amidst all these anthropological specifics, at the head of the pecking order in terms of global discrimination and antagonism is the phenomenon called ‘racism’. To a lay person this is the only term that matters. All other terms and distinctions are purely academic. Racism is about appearance and physical features. It is defined by the shape of the face. It is looked at in terms of the colour of the skin. Racism is simply and literally ‘black or white’, ‘dark or fair’. In general, the ‘white and fair’ have the notion of unrivalled superiority thereby depicting their supremacy across ‘all forms of public life’. It is this cognition that breeds problems and instigates retribution. It defines behaviour and perception towards everything.
Secondly, racism in football is not new. Now it has reached levels of criticality across many nations. Players and sometimes even match officials are abused based on the color of their skin. Apart from racist chants; there are even cases of racist banners being displayed in the stadia. No doubt, this has led to FIFA and UEFA to call for drastic steps to check on racism; however, over the years this has proven to be woefully short of any degree of effectiveness. As a case in point, in recent years high profile incidents involving racism include the racist abuse of Mario Balotelli (Marseille and Italy), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea and Germany), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City and England), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli and Senegal), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal and Germany), Adebowale Ogungbure (Vissai Ninh Binh and Nigeria), Moise Kean (Juventus and Italy), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Barcelona and Ghana), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt), Patrice Evra (West Ham United and France) and so forth. These players have been subjected to ‘monkey chants’ to ‘monkey gesticulation’ to ‘banners displaying a banana(s)’ and many more. Importantly, the point to be noted here is that racism is more extreme in the case of those players representing countries where the population is predominantly white (like in the case of Balotelli, Rudiger and Sterling).
Thirdly, over the years we see racism here in Shillong as well; particularly in the context of the I-League and the Shillong Premiere League. In general, football has grown extensively in India. This is good for the sport. We have seen a revival of football clubs; most of which are driven through an investment of foreign players and foreign management. In this tryst with professionalism, the football clubs have been buying players of varied nationalities from across the globe to represent them on the field of play. In our local context, the football clubs based in Shillong have indeed led the way in this aspect. Well, one might think that all these developments would also result in the change of outlook of the fans/supporters and that they might be more open and progressive in their mindset. However, what is habitual nature is embedded in us all and indeed it never dies. Our inclinations of looking into things from the context of ‘race’ and ‘racism’ are a foregone conclusion.
What is even more disturbing is the grotesque show of such feeling of supremacy while watching the game from the stands. As in the case of the I-League matches, when the local football clubs play against other teams at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Polo (and these other teams have in their roster players from Africa [or African origin]); at times you will be able to hear chants of ‘Negro’, ‘Iong’ (black), ‘Shrieh’ (monkey), ‘Tngaw’ (baboon) and so forth. In fact, sometimes even the African origin players of our very own local teams are not spared. This is a downright depiction of racism on our part. It is disturbing and highly condemnable and must be dealt with appropriately. Lest we forget that we as a race are also looked on as being inferior by others!
Fourthly, what to do about it? Is there a solution? To start with, the I-League is run by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Shillong Premier League by Shillong Sports Association. It is high time that these bodies take measures to deal with racism in football. These measures must be strict and penalizing. It must be noted that the number of people involved in racism at the stands are just a handful; but they bring shame to ‘the beautiful game’. We need mechanisms to identify and catch hold of these people red-handed. Accordingly, they may be penalized and/or they may be barred from football stadia for life altogether. Yes, the problem of racism here in Shillong is not as much as in the European football leagues. Nonetheless, the problem is to be nipped in the bud. To this end, the football clubs can do their own part through the public address system at the stadia. However, the most effective mechanism is self awareness and respect for humanity. There is no better way than this! The football fans/supporters in themselves can voluntarily shun racism and abhor any depiction of racism in keeping with the real spirit of football. This is the best we must do!
Lastly, why should we look at anything from the prism of ‘race’? So what if we are of different color, shape, size and behaviour. Let us not forget that in the end, we all bleed red!
(The Author teaches at NEHU)