Islamophobia in Newcastle.

It is a well known perception that Newcastle fans are amongst the best supporters in English football, but last Sunday’s incident involving the striker Mido, where their team played against Middlesbrough was an indication that this reputation may be tarnished somewhat. At Midledbrough’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle United at the Riverside stadium, Mido was subjected to abuse by the Newcastle supporters who are reported to of shouted comments such as “Mido, he’s got a bomb you know” in reference to him being muslim and indicating that he is a terrorist.

England compared to other European countries, is intolerant of racism in football, but Mido’s treatment should not be swept under the carpet because of this. For some the issue here is that people are jumping on a political correctness bandwagon, arguing that the abuse  is a prerequisite of banter aimed at opposition players. Players are expected to get abuse aimed at them from the opposition, which is a fair enough perception especially this being a local derby, but according to these small minded simpletons, there does not seem to be any boundaries.

Once upon a time black players, were the ones who suffered such abuse from the opposition and sometimes from their own fans. Monkey chants and banana throwing were the norm in English football, but legislation and club bans for life saw to it that these types of football fans were erradicated from football. Now if you share a view that you hate those who are black, you may be inclined to keep your mouth shut in a football stadium in fear of being arrested or getting a life-long club ban from your beloved club. In addition nearly every single club has a black player amongst their midsts so it would not be right to abuse a race that you have “adopted” to your club. Although a Newcastle representative Ian Cusack of a Newcastle fanzine, used this as a defence with the Mido issue: “Those comments weren’t racist, we have Emre; he’s Muslim.” 

But if racism against black players has been erradicated, (though there are still cases, however few) there does however seem to be no fear in racist abuse being aimed at other races. The emergence of oriental players in England has given cause for some fans to chant “DVD, DVD” at players such as Totenham’s Lee Young Po and the  Manchester City’s  Sun Jihai, in reference to Chinese illegal DVD sellers that they have encountered. Also in November 2005 Mido was again the subject of anti -Muslim abuse; this time from West Ham United supporters, while he was playing for Tottenham, and West Ham’s then manager Alan Pardew subsequently apologised.

In Newcastle’s programme at the game against Wigan, the chairman Chris Mort urged his supporters to “make sure what happened last Sunday was an isolated incident” , which of course it would be for their match with Wigan as there isn’t any Muslim players in the Wigan squad. If we do want to play “Islamophobia watch” we may have to wait for the next time Newcastle and Middlesborogh clash. His comment in the programme  is a breath of fresh air, considering we were scared to be content with Ian Cusack’s statement, that “those comments weren’t racist”. The next step though should be to punish those that were involved in the chanting. 

Mido was punished with a yellow card by the referee for celebrating his goal, whilst putting a finger to his lips at the very fans that had racially taunted him throughout the match. According to the rules  referee Mike Dean can not be faulted for showing the Egyptian striker a yellow card. Players should not provoke the opposition, but what about the section of the Newcastle United fans who were so vocal in bringing their islamophobic views to the football ground? With apparent CCTV everywhere it is possible for these simpletons to be found and punished. This should involve a red card being brandished for them, which prevents them from watching any player in black and white at a football stand, so we will not have to hear this sort of behaviour at any football ground again.

Filed under: Middlesbrough, football, newcastle, premiership, soccer, sports

Shady goings on at Newcastle

Mike Ashley the now owner of Newcastle United who had taken over from  Freddy Shepard is facing a daunting task of keeping the name of Newcastle United clean. Yesterday, officers from the City of London police had been searching the Newcastle ground for clues regarding the transfers of two players: Jean Alain Bomsong and Amady Faye in January 2005 from Glasgow rangers and Portsmouth respectively

A spokesman for the Tyneside club stressed that :

“the club itself is not the subject of the investigation”

Ashley’s regime does not seem to be under “investigation” entirely as the deals were secured before he took over the Tyneside club. The two transfers in question, were the two Lord Stevens felt  unable to ’sign off’ in his recent report. The Boumsong deal in particular was held highly suspicious.

Graeme Sousness, four months after taking over Bobby Robson as manager made his first purchase. Boumsong was bought for £8.2 million from Glasgow Rangers and was seen as a direct replacement for the departed Johnathan Woodgate, who had just joined Real Madrid.

The two criteria that earmarks this deal as highly suspect are as follows: the first involves Newcastle’s lack of competition form other clubs in obtaining the Frenchman’s signature. The second, concerns the availabilty of Boumsong sixth months prior to his move to Newcastle. Boumsong was available on a free transfer whilst at Auxerre, and Bobby Robson the then manager had shown a keen interest in him; even travelling to France to watch the player. However he neglected to sign him; even with the option of a free transfer. Rangers took the player on a free then sixth months later he was sold to Newcastle.

City of London police claimed that no arrests were made but:

“We can confirm that search warrants were served at three football clubs and the homes of two individuals in connection with corruption in football and its impact on owners and shareholders”

Filed under: football, newcastle