Uefa make racism 'top priority'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Uefa yesterday named the fight against racism as a top priority. Racist chants and taunts against black players have marred three matches in Spain in the past 10 days.
Uefa yesterday named the fight against racism as a top priority. Racist chants and taunts against black players have marred three matches in Spain in the past 10 days.
Despite years of anti-racist campaigns, the problem has never entirely disappeared from European football grounds, but the recent outbreaks have been the worst for some time.
The chief executive of European football's governing body, Lars-Christer Olsson, said: "It is one of our priorities and this is what we are working on continuously. It pops up and disappears from time to time." On Thursday, Uefa said it was holding an enquiry following Real Madrid's Champions' League match with Bayer Leverkusen at the Bernabeu stadium on Tuesday. Television pictures, seen all over Europe, clearly showed fans with swastika tattoos giving Nazi salutes to Leverkusen's black players.
Uefa officials have asked clubs to ban racist fans and clubs are cooperating according to Olsson. "The problem of racism is not only in football, it is in society in general," he said.
Meanwhile, the Manchester City and England goalkeeper David James has called on the Football Association to assist its Spanish counterparts in eradicating racism in football.
James said: "You are dealing with a social issue. We tend to forget that 30 years ago Spain was under a dictatorship.
"Look at England and the way we have dealt with racism here - 15 years ago John Barnes had bananas thrown at him.
"You cannot expect Spain to turn around in two weeks and all of a sudden have a policy which is going to enforce non-racism. It is going to take time."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments