Xenophobic Chants Continue as the FA “Investigates”

By: Laurie | December 4th, 2008

I think a lot of FAs and other governing organizations believe that if you just investigate things long enough, and if you keep telling everybody that there’s an investigation in progress, people will eventually lose interest in the result.

This seems to be the case with the English FA’s investigation of chants directed towards Middlesbrough’s Egyptian striker Mido.

Chants were directed against the Egyptian striker as he came on as subsitute at the Riverside in Saturday’s goalless draw. The FA wrote to the Tyne and Tees clubs last August after a similar outburst from the stands and issued Newcastle with a final warning. But no banning orders have been handed out and the FA has simply promised a new investigation into the repeat incident.

Final warning? Uh-huh. Sure.

The FA’s statement?

‘Last season we wrote to Newcastle and made it quite clear we did not want a repetition of this incident. We have written to them again and await their response.’

Because hell, yeah. That’ll stop it.

In the FA’s defense, they continue with:

‘In the meantime, I would repeat that we condemn any racist abuse or chanting and are determined to stamp it out. We will also help focus on identifying the individuals and support the club and police in taking the strongest possible action against them.’

This sounds good, on the surface. Except that if I’m reading this right, rather than doing anything themselves, the FA is supporting the club in its obviously diligent attempts to root out abuse among their own ticket-buying, money-paying supporters.

Yup, I’m pretty sure that’ll work.

Other countries and organizations have shown that this kind of abuse doesn’t just stop on its own. It requires that strong actions be taken, and that the strong actions actually hurt. Do we really think that Atletico Madrid fans are going to be tolerating racist chants again any time soon after their two-match Champions League stadium ban? And are any of the rest of us going to forget how eerie it was to watch these games being played in that empty stadium? That’s the kind of thing that makes even the most racist fans think twice before they act.

I believe it’s time for the English FA to grow a pair.