Link to my article:http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/soccer-players-in-europe-face-10-game-bans-for-racism-uefa-says/2013/04/10/d85ac6ca-a1e2-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html
Racism has been a big issue in the European soccer league. Fans, players, and officials have all been accused of racist activity during games. To try and put a stop to this behavior, General Secretary of the UEFA Gianni Infantino has proposed a 10-match ban for any players or officials convicted of racist behavior. Also, for a first offence of racist abuse by fans, there will be a partial closure of stadium. For a second offence, total closure and a $65,000 fine. These new sanctions are being proposed due to the fact that old methods of punishment for racist abuse have not been working. Before these sanctions, players or officials would usually be fined for racist abuse. However this type of punishment was not working as the racist activity continued throughout the league.
Do you think that there should be more done to help prevent future racist incidents? If so, explain what type of sanctions or punishments there should be for this behavior. If not, explain how you think that the sanctions proposed (10-match ban, abuse by fans resulting in closure of stadium) will help to prevent future racist incidents.
I absolutely think that there should be much more done in order to prevent future racist incidents.Firstly I think that the fine for comiting this offense should be immensely increased, lowering tolerance and raising the punishments and increasing the discipline against these racist incidents is the only way to prevent it
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that there should be a lot more done to prevent racist acts like the ones David said in class. I think that if a player or official commits any type of racist act or behavior they should be suspended for the rest of the season. I also agree with what Jack said about increasing the fines because I believe that there is absolutely zero tolerance for racism and it should be stopped immediately and I feel that this behavior will somewhat decrease over time with punishments that are inforced right away.
ReplyDeleteI believe with both Jack and Michele that there needs to be more done to decrease racism. But, we need to keep in mind that racism will never disappear. It is part of our human nature. I do agree with the multiple levels of fines that are being debated. But, according to the proposal by Gianni Infantino, I do not think that it makes sense to close part of a stadium. Personally, I do not think that this will achieve anything because fans could still finds other ways of watching the match, such as standing in the stadium. Therefore, I believe that the levels of punishment should become stricter and harsher because there should be no tolerance for racism, as Michele stated. I also agree with her statement that players be suspended for the rest of the season. I believe that this should also be the case for any referees or commentators. Along with this, there should be a fine included. But, I do not know enough about soccer to determine an appropriate amount.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above me. I think that the UEFA is making a very good first step towards fixing this problem. I believe that the punishment towards John Terry was not enough to make him think twice about his actions. With these new sanctions being proposed, it will make people think before they act. Especially if a fan is heard saying a racist comment. Shutting down half the stadium may sound harsh at first but this has been a persisting problem in EPL and many other European leagues.
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ReplyDeleteI definitely think more should be done to eliminate racism at sports events. I agree with everyone here that the punishment of players, officials and fans is fair. However, it is not fair that the fans that are not saying anything wrong get kicked out of the stands. Maybe fans that make racist comments should be banned from attending games for the next few years.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that more work, although difficult, can be done to encourage people to refrain from making racist comments. Perhaps if the players discouraged fans from using racist language, the fans would be less likely to use it. Also, it would be good to make sure the $65,000 fine is paid by the fan that made the racist comment. Also the fan should be banned from the event and future events. Also, if an athlete or official does makes racist comments several times, they should be banned from the sport for several years.
I think that the proposed sanctions will help deter people from making racist comments because of the threats being made by the sanctions. I think the sanctions are a little to sever though. I think kicking fans out for racist comments is going a little far, of course these comments make the players uncomfortable but its coming from both sides and its just part of the game I feel. I think that the sanctions will make people less likely to say racial slurs but I also think that because it is a sporting event people get really taken away with the excitement and that is when people begin to say racist remarks.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that there should be more done to help prevent future racist incidents. Unfortunately it has been present recently and is a variable in a competitive game, especially in the UEFA. In order to prevent racism in the future, the punishments should be more severe. Yes, they do give out fines to those who commit racist actions, but the amount of money is insignificant to these people. They make millions of dollars so having a fine of $65,000 is a very small portion of their salaries. If punishments were spread to the team and not the individual maybe we would see racism diminish in the athletic world. Knowing that your actions would negatively affect your team may have a better impact than just an individual consequence.
ReplyDeleteI believe that even though the punishments grow more and more severe, the racism at these games still exists and lingers around the field. Racism is obviously insulting and distracting, so I think that penalties should be placed on people that are clearly making someone or a group of people noticeably offended. The fact that a $65,000 fine for a second offence was still being violated, though, proves that fining does not have much effect on the spectators and players. A new punishment should be put into play since nothing has proved to be too effective yet. Maybe this system needs to be more strict, I agree with Ford and think it is a good idea to place penalties on the entire team and putting the whole team at a disadvantage when racism is apparent. That could possibly help these players wake up and notice the costs to making offending and distracting remarks.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that the 10-match ban will prevent players in being racist towards one another. I believe that players will think twice before they offend another player because they will lose out on 10 games. I think hat 10 games is a perfect amount because it is a significant enough for the player, who offended another player, to think about what they did. As far as the 10 game ban, another sanction I would add tot heir punishment is to say sorry to the player they offended, the coaches and the UEFA leaders. If the player continues to offend other players they should be permanently suspended from the league from not follow rules. I don't not agree with Ali and Ford because I don't think the whole team should be punished because of a teammate. Although it would prevent the player from offending someone because they have their whole team to think about, I don't think it is necessarily fair. In order for racism to come to an end in the UEFA soccer league, the league should enforce more punishments to threaten the players so they do not continue with saying racial slurs.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the league should take action, however i don't believe that this is the way to do it. Seeing as the fans were the ones saying the racist remarks, I don't feel like locking the team out of their stadium for ten games would be the best idea. This is mostly punishing the team and not as much the fans. While the players would try to get the fans to stop so that they do not continue to lose games. Unfortunately, these people will still hold these ideas and will not be stopped from committing these atrocities no matter what the league does.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that these new rules and sanctions are appropriate for the problem. Racism is a serious problem in the league and no player should have to suffer the abuse doing what they love. I wouldn't change the new rules or increase the amount the fine is because the $65,000 is already a large amount to pay. I think though having the punishments this severe though will help to eradicate the problem. Having to pay a large sum of money and not being allowed in the stadium are large prices that people will realize they don't want to pay for saying a few hateful words. In today's world there is equality, and racism isn't something that should be so prominent. Having these new rules and sanctions I think will really make people think before they commit racist acts.
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