Racist Behaviour In Serbia
The disgraceful racist and violent behaviour in Serbia yesterday, when England beat the country, is of course to be thoroughly deplored.
But the Balkans have in recent years not been a place where black footballers seem to be welcomed.
There is the story of how a teenage Titus Bramble, went to play for the England Under-21 in Albania around 2000. He was repeatedly racially abused during the match.
On return to Ipswich, he was interviewed by the East Anglian Daily Times about the match and stated that he didn’t know what the chants were, as he’d never encountered racism in his personal or footballing life.
In a way it shows how well and how early we started to get our act together over racism in football.
i have no idea, if the Albanians were punished for the behaviour of their fans, but the behaviour last night is in my view partly caused by UEFA’s and FIFA’s weak response to incidents like that match in Albania.
The Anonymous Widower 
I think many of the former Soviet Bloc nations are less than understanding about racial issues. When my daughter was in Russia her party included a black lady and the locals were clearly not used to seeing black people.
Comment by Liz P | October 17, 2012 |
When Ipswich played in Moscow in 2000, there was no trouble, but there was racist chanting, when they played in Serbia a year later. I think you may be right, that in Russia there is an unfamiliarity aspect. but Serbia seems to be a lot worse.
Comment by AnonW | October 17, 2012 |