Lost in Translation and Losing the Game

Say no to racism
Racism in football is a matter of concern. It is a worldwide problem that occurs on and off the pitch. It is seen and heard in the vast majority of countries, in some on a smaller scale, in some on a much wider scale. And although there have been attempts to abolish it, with organizations such as “Let’s Kick Racism out of Football” and “Show Racism the Red Card” doing their upmost best, the issue just won’t dissipate.

Argentina is a nation that oozes football. The passion for the game is mind-blowing, one of the greatest derbies in the world is played here at least four times a year, if we include the not-so-important but nonetheless passionate Summer Cups, being River vs. Boca. It’s at the height of the Everton vs. Liverpool, Roma vs. Lazio, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Rangers vs. Celtic, Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos, PSG vs. Marseille, Ajax vs. Feyenoord derbies. All these derbies are filled with hatred and the Argentine derby is not one to be taken lightly. The build-up to the match weeks before, the colour, the flags, the drums, the singing and the outrageous racist chants are all part of this “Superclasico”.

Racist chants are very common in Latin countries, unlike in the UK where everything is being done to abolish racism on and off the pitch. Here, in Argentina, however, little is being done. Only recently, while watching a River vs. Boca Summer Cup match, one could hear the River Plate supporters chanting “They are all from Bolivia and Paraguay”. It is extremely degrading, in Argentina, to call someone a Bolivian or Paraguayan, due to economic limitations, skin colour. The referee, when hearing these chants, decides to stop the match until the chanting ceases, when the chanting ceases the match restarts, when the match restarts so do the chants. Here’s when a typical trait of an Argentine is seen. The referee, instead of ending or stopping the match again says to the players and people in charge: “There’s nothing I can do about it, let’s carry on.” So the match goes on, the flags wave, the drums beat and the outrageous racist chants continue, all for the love of the game. It is part of the culture and something that will take time, if ever, to change.

The English Football League now has more foreigners than ever before, players come and go from different countries across the globe and not only have to adapt to a different style of play but also have to adapt to a different style of life, with the cultural and traditional ideologies that come with it. This takes time, sometimes quite a while. The fans have also had to adapt and that is also taking time - who can forget the banana peels thrown at John Barnes in 1987 - we seemed to have moved so far on since then, but it is still something very difficult to abolish.  Recently, in the UK, there have been two on-field racist incidents: the Suarez-Evra and the Terry-Ferdinand affairs both in October 2011. And though these were both similar they were both very different too. In the Terry-Ferdinand affair both players were English, they both know what was said and what wasn’t and in what context the words were used, therefore being a much easier case to study. On the other hand we have a Uruguayan and a Frenchman. By fact the word “negro” (black) used by Suarez to Evra, in Latin countries means “mate”, not always in a friendly way, but nothing more than that. Extracts from Suarez’s new book “Crossing the Line – My Story” show how the Uruguayan felt and still feels about this dilemma and ongoing situation. He said: “Did I use the Spanish word "negro" in an argument that took place, in Spanish, with Patrice Evra on 15 October 2011 in a game between Liverpool and Manchester United? Yes. Is the word "negro" the same in Spanish as it is in English? No, absolutely not. Am I a racist? No, absolutely not.”

Suarez comes from a background of controversial incidents which made it all the more easy to punish him. Suarez has had dark-skinned teammates, dark-skinned family and friends. It is very hard to believe he would use the word in a derogatory sense. He went on to say: “As I am now fully aware (and I did not even know this at the time), in English there is a word that is spelled the same way but is pronounced differently and it is highly offensive: negro, pronounced nee-gro. Negro (pronounced neh-gro) in Spanish means "black", nothing more.”
Moreover, when the punishment came to an end and Liverpool played against Manchester United with Suarez on one side and Evra on the other there was the hand-shake incident. Now, I wonder, if I were the victim of racial abuse I would never want to shake hands with the perpetrator of such offense and, if, let’s say, I was falsely accused of racially abusing someone I definitely wouldn’t shake hands with the person accusing me of it.

The footballing world is all for the abolishment of racism, a utopic matter in the times we live in. Cultural differences and ideologies must be taken into account for each and every incident thus understanding why and in what context the words are being said.

I have often been called “negrito” by people in the streets in Argentina and I’m white, should I take this as an offense? Should I consider it an ironic joke? Or should I take it as it is? Part of the culture.

For more information regarding anti-racism organizations in football, visit:

www.srtrc.org

www.kickitout.org

Article contributed by: James Hillyard

Twitter: @gasometre

Blog: Sportisms

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