Kevin Prince Boateng and AC Milan walk off pitch...

[HL]

das y i did'n say nut'n.....

[Rockman]

Maybe Paul Marin did not make a note of your contribution to the thread "Is Evra's grasp of reality..."despite providing a link to it in our discussion but surely you recognize your own words.
No, that is NOT why you did not comment.
You found yourself defying the truth, logics and objectivity.

[Mosiah]

High time FIFA and UEFA, especially, deal with this thing once and for all!

Dammit!

[Mosiah]

Kevin-Prince Boateng's stand against racism was a vital response


The Milan midfielder's decision to walk off in the friendly against Pro Patria was a brave and eloquent message in football's attempt to stem the poisonous undercurrent of racism


Slogans. Paltry fines. Captains reading out prepared statements over the Tannoy. More paltry fines. T-shirts. Even more paltry fines … When nothing meaningful changes, when words appear to fall on deliberately deaf ears, when punishments are forgotten as quickly as a hastily written cheque, when the authorities do not help, eventually there comes a time for direct action.

A brave and eloquent message in football's attempt to stem the poisonous undercurrent of racism came from the boot of Kevin-Prince Boateng, the Milan player who on a crisp, sunny day during a friendly match to keep the players ticking over during the winter break, simply had enough.

The context is meaningful. The Rossoneri were in action against Pro Patria, a fourth tier team from Lombardy based around 25km north of Milan. It is a weekday afternoon. It is the holidays. It is a friendly. It is a little stadium with a capacity of under 5,000. Maybe you might want to take your kids along to get a close-up view of some of Milan's stars. Maybe you might think it is appropriate under those circumstances to aim racist insults at some of those very players. Shamefully, unbelievably, some people evidently did.

Midway through the first half, Boateng could take it no longer. He was in possession, near the flank where his tormentors were stationed. He picked up the ball and struck it into their general direction. Visibly upset, he headed for the tunnel. The referee and a group of players from both teams attempted to talk to him, but nothing could be said to change the course of this human response – and in the wider context of things this brilliant and vital response.

Boateng removed his shirt and walked. Spontaneously – and this is also significant – applause broke out from the majority of the crowd. Boateng put his shirt around his neck and applauded back. In that moment, there was recognition that his act of defiance was beyond question.

There are those who argue that this kind of protest is letting the aggressors win, that the best way to counter it is to ignore it and keep playing. But it is hard to sustain that argument when it does not work. The aggressors have clearly not got the message yet via any other attempts to consign such moronic behaviour to the dustbin.

It is in Uefa's powers to punish Milan for leaving the field without the referee taking the decision to abandon the match, although hopefully the rules may not be so thorough for unofficial matches. But unless the game's governing bodies choose a path to deal with racist taunting more effectively, maybe action like this is coming in a competitive game. Maybe one day a white player might even feel compelled to take the lead and take the decision to end a game in support of one of their own.

Watching the way Boateng's team-mates determinedly and instinctively followed him off the pitch, the case of Marco Zoro came to mind. Zoro is a defender from the Ivory Coast who was playing for Messina in November 2005 when he was the victim of racist abuse from a group affiliated to Internazionale. He, too, was distraught enough to leave the field. Notably, though, he was persuaded to come back and play on, particularly by Adriano and Obafemi Martins. Other players did not want to back him then, so this is progress of sorts.

There was condemnation in Italy then. There will be condemnation in Italy now following events at Pro Patria. Milan's coach, Massimiliano Allegri, noted the need for education. Not only should people not be behaving in this way in 2013, they should not even be thinking it.

"Shame these things still happen," tweeted Boateng. Shame, indeed, in every sense of the word, although Boateng's brave stance should be lauded.

[Paul Marin]

High time FIFA and UEFA, especially, deal with this thing once and for all!

Dammit!

LOL!!! Tan deh an' wait. UEFA is the most racist organization in football. Nothing ain't gonna happen...but pull off your shirt and show the logo of a non-fifa sponsor and BAM!!!! You'll get it then for sure.

[Mosiah]

I know. Not holding mi breath!

[Karl]

Kevin-Prince Boateng's walk-off wrong - Clarence Seedorf

AC Milan legend Clarence Seedorf says former team-mate Kevin-Prince Boateng was wrong to lead the Italian side off the pitch because of racist abuse.

The Ghana midfielder walked off in protest in the 25th minute of a friendly at Pro Patria on Thursday.

Seedorf said: "I don't see it as such a positive thing because [it] empowers more and more of this behaviour."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20904210

[Mosiah]

Seedorf added: "If Boateng was able to identify the whole corner, you just kick the whole corner out, That is how I think it should be handled.
"Walking away? Yes, you send a signal. But this has happened more than once and I don't think it really changes all that much. We are just empowering that little group with their behaviour to make this mess."

And does Seedorf really think that was going to happen, the authorities kicking out the entire corner?

[Gamma]

an exemption needs to be made within the FIFA regulations and rules and/or the game

[Peter R]

Let them try that when a stadium ram with 90,000 and you decide to kick out a corner when half innocent... Seedorf not thinking this through all the way; kicking out offenders is just the tip, strategies need to be placed so they don't enter in the first place...

[Reggaedoc]

God Bless America....

That's true Muadib. Maybe, just maybe the US population is more enlightened than their European scum bag cousins. I have always thought so anyway. "long live Europe and Great Britain and down with Babylon US for all Anglo- / Euro-philes".

[Peter R]

I read a comment that said that by walking off Boateng let the racists get to him and control the situation... so is it that the racists attend a football match to NOT see a football match?? dem a eediat fi true... walking off sends a clear message TO UEFA and FIFA; they have to do something to keep the a$$es out, for they will always be there... but if they want to see a football match they will have to behave themselves.

[Gamma]

there are pros and cons. at the end of the day the CLUBS and the regulatory bodies are the ones lagging behind and until the clubs start to feel the pinch because regulatory body imposes heavy sanctions where they feel it, they will continue to pay lip service and cut and paste

[Peter R]

...another commentator suggests that by having an entire section subject to possible ejection will create "self-policing", i.e. other spectators will keep the unruly ones in check.... ha ha ha... mek dem try dat ah stadium! yuh cud imagine a likkle red bwoy like me tell one big (insert colour of choice here) man fi siddung and shet up?! mi try dat one time in Toronto at at JA v TT match back in the day... ask ah bredda who was standing and blocking seated spectators' view to take a seat... eh eh, who tell me... de man (Jamaican) trace me fi bout half hour (seemingly) and not a soul nuh seh nutten... me and me bredrin move.... discretion better than valour... mi brave but mi nuh fool!

[Don1]

LOL