The topic of racism is dominating English football just now. It has rumbled on since Luis Suarez’s altercation with Patrice Evra two seasons ago and last week came to a head with Rio Ferdinand’s refusal to wear a “Kick it Out Campaign” t-shirt.
Ferdinand obviously feels aggrieved with the 4 match ban that former England captain, John Terry received last week :after he used abusive language towards Rio’s brother, Anton in a game between QPR and Chelsea last year.
It’s hard to accept why the FA decided an 8 game was enough for Suarez while only 4 game ban for Terry.
On the face of it Terry was more culpable and he could hardly defend himself with “cultural differences”. His defence that he was only repeating what Anton Ferdinand has said seems pretty weak.
In South America they have a somewhat different view of race and abuse. Football players and people in general are regularly referred to as “negro” or “negrito” in reference to their darker skin and in Ecuador the people from the coast (who are generally Afro-Ecuadorian) are popularly called “Monos” or monkeys.
Similarly, if an Afro-Ecuadorian scores a goal in a league match here then the next days headlines will refer to “negrito” as the hero.
Personally, I find it strange that a person should refer directly to a persons skin colour or race. It’s open to debate to whether it is in a derogatory manner but regardless I,m fairly certain no person would want to be referred to as a monkey.
Maybe the South Americans are decades behind in their race-relation or maybe they are more relaxed than politically correct obsessed Europeans??
Fairly Dreadful 