from the May 12, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0512/p07s01-woam.html

Soccer slide-tackles racism
FIFA to send out antiracism ambassadors, including Pelé.
By Bill Faries | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

BUENOS AIRES - Fans wave swastikas, coaches denigrate black players, and teams are forced to play before empty stadiums because of unruly crowds.

A year before soccer's World Cup is due to kick off in Germany, concerns are growing that Pelé's "beautiful game" is being marred by racism. As a result, soccer authorities, athletes, and sponsors in South America, Europe, and Asia are looking for ways to improve crowd and player behavior before the sport's reputation is permanently damaged.

Soccer officials have long kept their eye on the sport's worst "hooligans" - disruptive fans who often drink heavily and try to incite violence before, during, and after matches. During the 2002 World Cup, the host nations, Korea and Japan, sent dozens of known troublemakers back to their home countries. Now officials are focusing on acts of racism.

Here in South America, the issue received renewed attention last month when Leandro Desabato, an Argentine defender with the Quilmes club team, was detained by Brazilian police after making derogatory remarks toward the player known as Grafite, a black Brazilian player.

Less than a week later, fans watching a club match in the city of Cordoba, Argentina, were seen waving flags with swastikas on them. Argentina has a large Jewish population.

But according to antiracism activists, recent events go beyond a handful of unruly and intoxicated fans.

"Hooligans and racism have traditionally always been linked," says Leon Mann of Kick It Out, a British organization dedicated to eliminating racism in soccer. "But it would be naive to assume that this is a problem caused exclusively by skinhead hooligans. [These days], racist chants can be heard by a range of different supporters - young, old, rich and poor."

Kick It Out is part of a network of nine organizations with contacts in 35 countries calling itself Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). Funded in part by national soccer organizations and players' associations, FARE is trying to raise awareness and to change attitudes.

Among antiracism activists, Spain, Italy, and Eastern Europe are often singled out as the worst bastions of racist crowd behavior. They cite, for example:

• Spain's national coach, Luis Aragonés, was recently heard using a racial epithet during a World Cup qualifier against Belgium. Spain's soccer federation fined Mr. Aragonés 3,000 euros ($3,850).

• In November, black English players were mocked with racist chants by fans during a match with Spain, prompting British Prime Minister Tony Blair to protest the treatment to Spanish officials.

• In the Netherlands, anti-Semitic chants by a group of Dutch fans against referee Rene Temmick led to the cancellation of a game in progress between club teams PSV Eindhoven and Den Haag.

FIFA, soccer's international governing body, condemns these and other incidents. In 2001, the organization began to require soccer organizers to refuse admission to fans who take part in racist acts or violence, and ordered coaches and clubs to "impose effective punishment" on players who indulge in racist behavior.

More recently, FIFA announced plans to create a group of antiracism "ambassadors." A FIFA spokesman said that the group's activities are still being defined but that they will be led by Thierry Henry, a black player on France's victorious 1998 World Cup team and one of Europe's top soccer stars. He will likely be joined by Pelé, the former Brazilian star.

Mr. Henry, currently playing for Britain's Arsenal team, has criticized the fine against Aragonés as "laughable" and helped persuade his sponsor, Nike, to undertake an awareness campaign dubbed "Stand Up, Speak Out" in Europe.

In addition to television ads featuring European soccer stars, the campaign has created a black and white interlocking wristband which it is selling through European sports retailers. The money raised will be distributed by an independent foundation to support anti-racism projects and initiatives.

Europe's soccer federation, UEFA, has also gotten involved, fining teams in Britain, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, and Hungary for racism-related issues in recent years. The league has even forced some teams to play games in empty stadiums as punishment for racist crowd behavior. Earlier this year, the federation sponsored a conference in Slovakia to examine discrimination against Roma, or gypsies, in Eastern Europe.

Can soccer contribute to solving a much more general problem in a society?" asks William Gaillard, a spokesman for UEFA. "That's the question we're asking ourselves. We don't know the answer, but we're trying."

Soccer was invented by European ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking.

My favorite major sporting event has always been the World Cup. Pity it only comes along once every four years.

Racism is growing. That's good. Waving swastikas? That's fantastic.

Watching the Germans win it all in 2006 will be a great pleasure.

You can download "HBO's Real Sports - Racism in Football" with a Bittorrent Client. It's a rather large download, 156.57 megabytes to be precise, so don't bother trying to dowload the show unless you have a highspeed internet connection.

Here's a link to the show...

http://www.mininova.org/tor/123472

Soccer was invented by European ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking.

Hmm, you're just angry because your greasy countrymen won't be going to Germany next year.
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/t/team/overview.html?team=isr

from the May 12, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0512/p07s01-woam.html

BUENOS AIRES - Fans wave swastikas, coaches denigrate black players

That's kind of a strange thing about Brazil. There's an element of outright racism going on. As an example, I have read about the odd penchant they have for changing thier names. One phone book listed a guy who calls himself "Adolf Hitler". You wouldn't think that would be happening in such a mongrelized paradise, would you?

That's kind of a strange thing about Brazil. There's an element of outright racism going on. As an example, I have read about the odd penchant they have for changing thier names. One phone book listed a guy who calls himself "Adolf Hitler". You wouldn't think that would be happening in such a mongrelized paradise, would you?

What's even funnier is that the majority of Brazilians who do so are the ones with the most obvious admixture of Indian and Negro blood. I used to go fishing in this lake with a DARK Brazilian running the snackbar. He'd be drunk and toking off a joint at 6 am, bitching about the niggers, and talking about his 100% German ancestry. He was actually a nice guy, but he looked and acted like one of those old-time friendly niggers, who seem well-adjusted to having White masters. He did have some good stories, probably BS, about cutting up nigs and natives to chum for peacock bass, and even using a whole shitskin to catch arapaima, which, naturally, reached 20 ft. in HIS country.

soccer is good clean fun. in the USA kids soccer is a pretty White affair because they organize teams by neighborhood. and whether the housing cops like it or not, there are big portions of our housing stock that are extremely segregated -- voluntarily and in spite of the worst efforts of the jews to make it otherwise.

Handball is better. There's no hooliganism or racism but it's mostly white guys who play it

All those soccer fans seem like the football fans here except more "racist". Screw them both I say. Anyone who worships a damn sport is an idiot. Even if they're "racist".

Kind of like those idiots who will be racist around their White friends but then go hang out with blacks or watch interracial porn.

ngrh8r-
Yeh, I believe your story. That's what's so strange about the whole scene over there.

Football was invented in Medieval England as a hard-arsed battle between neighbouring villages. Americans do not understand the concept of hooliganism. Today it's a joke. In the 70s and 80s it was hardcore and everyone was ultra-racist.

A segment of the video is an interview with a gentleman from the British National Front and he is asked the question, “Is it because of the color of their skin?” The scene then cuts away and returns to him saying, “yes, yes.” The editing job was horrible. It was obvious that they took his “yes, yes” answer from another question and joined it to the black skin question. He didn’t give an answer they liked. One that would fit with their propaganda line for the segment; so they had to create the affect of him saying yes. Will the average t.v. watcher notice that, I don’t think so.

All those soccer fans seem like the football fans here except more "racist". Screw them both I say. Anyone who worships a damn sport is an idiot. Even if they're "racist".

Speaking only for myself, I do not worship soccer - or any other sport for that matter. I enjoy an occassional game and wasn't really into it until the US started being competitive.
But you're right, it's overdone, like all pro sports, and has too much of an effect on many good White people, especially in Europe.

Kind of like those idiots who will be racist around their White friends but then go hang out with blacks or watch interracial porn.

So get yourself some new friends.