Last week I wrote about football being a beautiful game and it got me thinking, how beautiful really is it?’
When you look at players kicking the ball and fans cheering them on, that is beautiful writes Danielle Lowe. Aside from the money, the blame culture and clear team selection based on manager favouritism not always the best players, there is clearly a darker side to the game.
I normally try to avoid wandering into these debates. I let my anger overwhelm my sense of direction and sometimes the clarity behind it. Therefore, if the following seems a little disjointed, jumbled or overly enraged then I apologise but the following topics do not sit at all well with me.
For a long time I have questioned some of the moral and ethical decisions and campaigns linked to football. Players wear their rainbow laces, programmes are adorned in kick racism out of football and a wide range of other campaigns, slogans and appeals are woven into the game we know and love.
All the campaigns mean well and some of them work well. They raise awareness and help to change attitudes amongst players, staff, fans and the general world. But sometimes through all these campaigns it becomes evident that there is a weak point in the armour.
People with proven history of being discriminatory to at least one group in our society continue to rise in the ranks of staff authority or to be allowed to kick the ball around their dream footballing home every week. People can of course become reformed characters and they can change but there are times when we should draw the line.
With the recent Wigan Athletic controversy that led Dave Whelan, Conservative party donor and owner of the club, to apologise for comments in an interview that deemed him a racist and the appointment of former Cardiff City boss Malky MacKay who is under investigation by the FA for racist, sexist and homophobic comments, there is something very hypocritical about the whole thing.
Whilst criticism and concern has emerged in relation to this, I feel it shows an issue. The FA is taking far too long to deal with the Mackay claims and enforce appropriate sanctions. In the meantime he is being seen as ‘innocent until proven guilty’ even if the who world has seen the messages in question. It looks like the kick racism out of football campaign has been well and truly kicked out of the park on this occasion.
All this is happening at a time when the FA are trying to get a convicted rapist to be allowed to train at a football club that is actually recognised by people up and down the country. They seem to be suggesting they think one person that has spent time in prison deserves to go back to high wages and a dream job leaving the woman he attacked unable to watch the news or read the papers in case he shows up.
If you take away the whole ethics and morals behind letting him (no, I refuse to dirty my mouth or keyboard by even saying his name) even possibly return to professional football the example it sets is unbelievable. I see no point in me repeating the opinions of many on whether rapists should be allowed to return to their former lives or not, so I do not intend to do so here, I intend to merely raise a few more questions for you to consider.
Most of us will, no doubt, remember the adverts of drivers being over the limit on alcohol, being caught texting whilst on the road and as a result being pulled over or in an accident. Being caught resulting in them being unable to have a car or at least not have a clean license, ending up losing their job as a result of no transport, struggling to pay the bills and seeing their family life suffer.
I am sorry but can we just pause here for a quick a second because perhaps I missed something. Is the FA seriously suggesting that being convicted of rape should not result in any loss of reputation, financial freedoms and happiness? Are they saying that allowing a club to carry on and hire a manager that they are investigating for racism is okay? Are they saying that all their campaigns mean nothing? Are they saying that they do not care for the safety and well-being of football supporters? If they are not saying any of these things then I am obviously on a completely different ethical and moral world to them.
I really hope that in the end darkness can be eliminated from football to let it truly be a beautiful game. I hope that everybody involved in football starts to take the campaigns that they create and promote a little more seriously. I hope that if they do not, they face the consequences of their actions. When you see people being discriminated against it is hard to support a sport because you feel dirtied by association.
When a woman has her life ruined by an abuser allowed to let his life continue as if nothing happened, it is that little bit more difficult to feel that football is a sport for men, women and children to all enjoy without fear.
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