Racism In Football: What if He Had Been A White-Skinned European?

Praise Olorunfemi

Since racism entered the world as a kind of foul consciousness, it has left an almost indelible mark on mankind as a whole, not even sparing sports. Racial elements still sip through in almost every facet of life. Although it can be said that the heat of racial discrimination has been toned down, racial flames have been smothered, but the heat still lingers. Football also has had its share of racism, one can safely say, it still is, in a form and in a way.

A Notable Player Slighted By Racism

A player like Samuel Eto’o Fils is not just any name in football history, and one could even argue this with a lot of uncommon feats the African player has had. He was a striker with nearly flawless footwork and ball control, speed, strength and stamina, skilful dribbling, and rapid decision-making on every type of playing experience. Even in his video game rating, Samuel Eto’o’s avatars have stats like stamina/strength, dribble, shooting, and speed that are ranked higher than 80 out of 100, particularly stats like speed, which is rated at 94. He was such a dangerous player on the pitch during his career, so much that, to look away from Samuel Eto’o on the pitch for even a brief moment could spell doom for the opponent. From 2003 to the time he left professional football, he has always been nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or, which is nine times in total. Yet he was never decorated with this deserved title. Being nominated for such a long time in that manner could mean one thing; he was indeed an exceptional player who deserved the title.

Despite this meritorious accomplishment, he has been denied this recognition. Inter-Milan’s coach, José Mourinho, was particularly disappointed that he was not honoured in 2010, in particular. He is one of the very few players to have constantly won the continental trebles at various clubs. The truth is that the accomplishments and influence Samuel Eto’o as a player has had in many teams cannot be fully covered in one article, even if it was dedicated to profiling the player. Even if it may not seem serious, not receiving the proper decoration and receiving preferential treatment nonetheless are major matters in and of themselves. But, a significant query is raised: What if Samuel Eto’o is a white European player?

Talking About Continental Treble

Continental trebles are an achievement in this manner: When a club wins three trophies in a single season, it is said to have won a treble. A continental treble involves winning the club’s national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. Just about 13 players in the history of football have been able to accomplish the continental treble feat. However, Samuel Eto’s Fils strikingly stands out amongst this list. In the history of football, Samuel Eto’s Fils remains the only man to complete the treble cycle consecutively, and with two different clubs. The first one was in 2009, in Barcelona, while the second one was in the following year, 2010, in Inter-Milan. One of the most decorated players in the history of football, Cristiano Ronaldo, has won five league titles, three domestic cups and five Champions League trophies. But he never achieved all three in the same season. Is being a “GOAT” an exclusive birthright of certain pigmentation of people?

Recent Happenings on Racism

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, are no strange names to football lovers, all three black players belong to the English National Team. In 2020, during the Euro 2020 Championship Finals, these three black players lost their penalty kicks in the final match against the Italian team, which led to the Italian team being crowned “king of Europe”. Of course, losing a penalty kick can be hurtful, however, such players should never be subjected to racial victimisation the way these three black players have. In this same tournament, black players on the team infallibly had a greater impact on the advancement of the English team in the tournament. Records have it that, the English team appeared for the first time in the Euro 2020 finals in 50+ years. Raheem Sterling had the highest goal in the English Team in that tournament, yet he was not honoured by the fans on racial bases. A football correspondent, Sam Cunningham, in his article opinionated thus: “What if Harry Kane had scored the same crucial goals to fire England to a Euro 2020 quarter-final? He would surely be a national treasure by now, awaiting his knighthood when the tournament concludes. It would a simpler story, but Sterling’s isn’t”.

In the Coppa Italia Semi-finals on 4th April 2023, Romelu Lukaku was a victim of racism. After scoring an equalizer against the Juventus team with a penalty, he was given a red card by the referee because of his jubilation. Interestingly, that particular jubilation he was penalised for has been a jubilation style for Romelu Lukaku in his last three matches. Of course, there was an underlying factor, which is, as a result of the racist chants from the spectators. Romelu Lukaku made a salutation sign with his other index finger on his lips, in a gesture of silence. A lot of notable people across Europe have voiced the urgent need to address these age-long racist biases; interestingly this particular player has been a victim of racism in Inter-Milan since 2019. Here is what Michael Yormark, president of Roc Nation Sports International, said in a statement on Wednesday, 4th of April 2023 “Tonight’s racist remarks made towards Romelu Lukaku by Juventus fans in Turin were beyond despicable and cannot be accepted.” Yormak demanded an apology on behalf of Romelu Lukaku and also added that “The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to tackle racism, rather than punish the victim of the abuse.”

Although, the associations in charge of football leagues around the world would portray being against racism, in words. Many times, they have been tagged as sheer “hypocrites”, especially, with emphasis on leagues and associations in Europe, since Europe is notorious for its swiftness to punish a racist victim without even addressing the matter properly or fairly, without a single prick of conscience. It has happened so many times in European leagues. Even the English team players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, were racially abused, so much Prince William had to comment about it. In fact, Europe has a policy on the number of non-EU players, that is non-European Union players. This policy had an affected on the transfer decision of players like Samuel Eto while he was in Mallorca, it was one of the major factors in Samuel Eto eventually being signed off to Barcelona. Although it may seem, the strictness of this policy has lessened.

There are more than hundreds of cases of racial victimisation in not only football this time around, but in almost all internationally played sports in the world. Mario Balotelli is another example, yes he might be a controversial player and a very controversial one at that, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he was racially abused.

Interestingly, he is not tagged as the most controversial. Players like Luis Suárez, Carlos Tevez, and Gennaro Gattuso are seemingly more controversial than Mario Balotelli, yet none of them has been told to go see a psychiatrist. To reduce the negative impact on racially victimised players goes beyond just chanting “no to racism”. The majority of times, when players react in racially prejudiced situations, the victims always bear the brunt of the punishment and most time without a probe into why these players must have reacted.