Before making his England debut forty years ago, Cyrille Regis received a gunshot in the mail from a racist supporter. Avram Grant received dozens of antisemitic emails in 2008, just after being hired as Chelsea’s manager. The temptation is to think that nothing has changed save for the way that racist remarks about football players are delivered these days as they continue to get them on Twitter and Instagram.
The most notable black footballers have been the targets of a recent surge of social media abuse that fits a predictable pattern. Marcus Rashford, Axel Tuanzebe twice, Anthony Martial, Reece James, Romaine Sawyers, Alex Jankewitz, and Lauren James are among the victims of the macabre cluster of crimes.
There are statements made. Governmental organizations, media outlets, and public figures jostle for positions to express their disapproval, frequently using fancy social media graphics. The fury then dissipates like any wave. The news cycle becomes dull. Both racism and other forms of discrimination continue. At least until the following wave.
Can the vicious cycle ever be ended? Will football ever be able to move past strong opinions, harsh condemnations, and the sporadic sight of a man wearing a jacket over his head as he leaves a magistrate’s court? There has been a call for increased monitoring from social media platforms from players and prominent figures in the game. The government has threatened tech firms with criminal penalties and billion-dollar fines. But for the time being, all of this is just words. Are we ever going to accurately assess this situation?
The death threats issued to referee Mike Dean over the weekend and the recent treatment of the commentator Karen Carney by Leeds fans serve as evidence that this is about more than just racism. It’s not even about isolated occurrences or outright abuse.
Given that much of the present abuse has simply moved online in the absence of spectators from stadiums, concentrating on social media platforms will only solve the tiniest portion of the issue. English football feels more totally devoured by hatred than at any time in its recent history, a smell you can neither decisively place nor ignore despite the joy it inspires and the moving stories it serves out.
