Introduction:
Recently an on-the-pitch encounter snowballed into something bigger and triggered debates about `racism' in football. It even led to calls for the resignation of FIFA President, Mr. Sepp Blatter. But just what is the best way to harness and hone inate(raw) skills of footballers,to make them adaptable and capable of withstanding relative professional stress and associated experiences?
Roussilon, Southern France August 2004:
It was atop bridge `St. Julien', or so it is called, a single lane strip of motorable, carefully layered heavy stones, said to have been built by the Romans more than 2000 years ago linking the Southern town of Roussillon in the Provence region of France, with Northern Spain, that my German host told me it was time for Africans to move away from self-pity, with determination, not looking back on the dark years of colonisation, because, `we too, were colonised and we overcame it and moved away from self-pity’. He pointed at St. Julien as a legacy of their former colonial powers.
Back in the penthouse room I was lodged in that sunny day in August 2004, I ruminated over what I had seen and heard, and saw therein a point too strong, to be ignored. I did not think that I would be forced to remember the events after six years, but the current racism row has led to a `convulsion’ of memories, forcing out already archived experiences.
Why does Racism Always Have To Be Associated With Blacks?
The big question is, why does racism almost always have to be associated with blacks? Why can't blacks rise above self condemnation and pity anchored on racial abuse? Blacks have married to and been married by every other race, with adorable legacies. Blacks have produced a Formula1 Champion, a President of the USA, Mayors in UK cities and many more.. You see, I support Rachel Farris when she said "It is time to rise above racism and self interest"
It must be acknowledged that, indeed, black people (and maybe many others) may have suffered a lot of insults and degradation, at one point or the other in their history, but racism should not always be blamed. Race and the skin colour which, we have all accepted can be called ‘Black’, `White’, `Asian’, `Australian’ and so on, is actually a natural and continental heritage, and it applies to all peoples of the world. But we must recognise when we have suffered abuse, as a result of the colour of our skin and when we have so suffered because our tormentor is inherently wicked. A Test is, if he can do to his brother, kinsmen or child, what he has done to you, he may be anything but `racist’. So that other underlying reasons must be discovered.
And I think that Racism must be further differentiated and weighted, to avoid abuse.
1) If a person beats up or inflicts injury on another, solely on the basis of the colour of his skin, the perpetrator should not be ignored.
2) If a child is deprived placement in a University slot or denied education, on the basis of the colour of his skin, this should not be swept under the carpet.
3) If an applicant is denied a job, despite passing through relevant tests and being qualified, solely on the basis of the colour of his skin, it must be jointly and severally condemned.
4) If a child is manifestly able to pursue a course of study at university, but is being manipulated by others to drop his/her ambition, solely on the basis of the colour of his skin, the perpetrators must be recognised as racists and guilty of causing educational obstruction to the child.
If we don’t mind being classified on other basis like country, profession, intellectual ability, wealth, height, weight and so on, why do we care when called names that refer to our skin colour? What every Blackman, or woman, requires is to develop a strong character and an admirable personality. These help you overcome your inhibitions.
Looking at ourselves in our mirrors every morning, and telling ourselves, very emphatically that `we are black, and we are proud’ maybe the tonic we need.
We must ask ourselves where we are lacking. Is it in income, education, height or weight? The presence or the lack of each of these variables is capable of resulting in a feeling of low esteem. Other than this, it is incomprehensible why a grown man, who has made it to a Professional status - easily the best league in the world – or indeed any other respectable professional hierarchy, will still lack the strength of character to deal with such issues, as name calling.
But in truth, we are all forged through different crucibles, probably making us professionals only in selected fields, but not in all. These days are no longer the time for the likes of Wolfgang von Goethe who combined poetry with politics, science and religion and made a success of all.
Two of the racial issues in recent news feeds, that have refused to die down, occurred in the Premier league and involve at least four big names. Like most others, I am curious particularly because, all the names involved are mature footballers, with several years of experience.
Now, I keep asking myself, are blacks the best behaved at the work place? I can’t help wondering if there have been occasions when the situation was reversed and a black footballer became the offending party. What was the reaction of the offended?
And what colour is our skins, really? Here is one real life, direct source, story: A seven year old Black pupil (who had just migrated, with his family, into the UK from Belgium) enrolled into Abbey Wood Primary School, had an argument with his White classmate, who had called him `black’. The black boy asked `are you white? Look at your skin and look at this book, do they match?’ His classmate said `well, that’s what my parents told me’ and the boy said `then, they lied to you’. While the argument was witnessed by their teacher and related to the mother of the black pupil, I kept wondering what the parents of the white boy would have told him when he returned from school and confronted them with his experience.
With this kind of self-awareness, at the age of seven, I don’t see how the black boy will make his way to professional life and then relapse into walloping in self-pity, over name calling. And, in which areas are parents, especially black parents, failing their kids by not providing the right training to them during their formative years?
We read about exceptionally beautiful and fashionable ladies who fall over themselves, just to identify and possibly be a WAG to these footballers, without a care in the world about the colour of their skin. For this reason, I think that any beneficiary of, and indeed anyone capable of benefiting from, this kind of attention does not have an excuse to cry racism. And I suspect that Sepp Blatter’s initial reaction might have been in line with the view that it takes more than `raw skill’ to be a professional footballer.
It is one thing to discover desirable talent and yet another to harness and adapt the skill to fit various potential situations. A child who possesses football skill or similar must not just be trained to play football but also, must be exposed to various simulated situations during his training prior to going professional. Footballers, actors and actresses, dancers and singers are some of the professional areas that definitely fall into this group. As the book of Proverbs said in Chapter 22:6 `train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it’
Appropriate Child Skill training will go a long way in helping to reduce the number of potential questions that bothers on professional ethics. These include:
A) When a lawyer abandons and betrays his client to align with and serve his client’s rivals instead of handing over to another lawyer as he would have been prejudiced.
B) When a medical doctor refuses to save a life because no one has paid the appropriate fees in advance.
C) And when a Pastor or spiritual leader ignores the very messages he stood on the pulpit and preached to an eager congregation, to declare spiritual warfare and spiritually suppress the very congregation he pastors.
We may never really know exactly what transpired recently between some footballers on the pitch, but I think that while we must not encourage people to behave irrational and out of character when they are under stress, as might have been the case, we should know how seriously we should take them, because otherwise, we simply blow the situation out of proportion and, often, result in more and longer argument, than the perpetrator intended.
There has been a call for FIFA President, Mr. Sepp Blatter, to resign in the face of a current gaffe. Well, I do have my reservations over that call. But as an administrator with a good degree of modesty, the Soccer Chief has apologised and we must, in the spirit of sportsmanship and fairplay, accept that apology. Mr. Blatter is an Administrator and not a politician, even though football has gone greatly political. And his refusal to go should even be a lesson to all other `cry baby’ footballers that it takes modesty and self-confidence to accept and apologise for ones mistakes, and still retain your integrity, assertiveness and self-belief.
Black professionals, including footballers, should allow themselves the luxury of a little more self-belief. It will even enable them to adhere to the tenets of their respective professions.
Thank you for visiting and please do return.
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