Fussball-WM Blog

When Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviewed Dave Zirin – who writes the weekly column "Edge of Sports" and is a regular contributor to The Nation and author of the book "What’s My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States" – she asked about racism at the world cup.

Zirin confirmed that racism has not been as much a part of the FIFA World Cup 2006 as many feared going into the games. "…despite some little outbursts by little Neo-Nazi fringe groups trying to organize rallies or what not, [absence of racism] is because of the organization of players and fans themselves," he says.

He acknowledges two particular groups for this success: "There’s a group called FARE — that’s Footballers Against Racism — , for example  "Show Racism the Red Card" on fussballwmblog.de, that have been organizing to keep the racists out." Secondly, he notes Thierry Henri – a French player of African descent who launched the “Stand Up, Speak Up” anti-racism campaign.

"He actually pressured his sponsor, Nike. You don’t usually think of Nike when you think of the anti-racist vanguard in the world, but he pressured Nike to actually produce these black-and-white arm bands to sell, that fans could wear in solidarity with anti-racism. They’ve sold over five million," says Zirin.

Unfortunately, the Spain coach Luis Aragones has again refused to apologise to Thierry Henry for a racial slur against the Frenchman in 2004. The Spain coach referred to Henry as a "black s***" during a Spanish training session in an exchange with Henry’s Arsenal team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes. In the buildup to tonight’s last-16 clash between the two countries in Hanover a Spanish reporter asked whether he would apologise to Henry face-to-face for the incident. However, Aragones dismissed the suggestion saying: "No, no, don’t go down that road. …". "He should have been suspended for a while," said France defender Mikael Silvestre. "The World Cup is a good place and I don’t think there is much racism – let’s avoid that."

Aragonés also prefers to motivate his players with invectives from the street, often going too far. His words in a match against Belgium in October 2004 are now nearly legendary. With his forehead pressed against that of striker Antonio Reyes from FC Arsenal, Aragonés chided, "Play your game. Show that nigger that you’re better than him!" By "nigger" he meant French star Thierry Henry, a teammate of Reyes’ in London. The words launched a heated debate about racism in professional soccer but Aragonés felt he was being unfairly singled out.

Finally, a disturbing instance in which one could recognize the racial dynamics at play was during a game between Spain and Tunisia. After Spain scored a goal late in the game, the camera showed the overwhelmingly pro-Spanish crowd celebrating. One Spanish fan was waving a Confederate flag. Some Spanish fans had been known for their racist attitudes toward African players and now it was displayed in an international arena. This, combined with the persistent concerns of neo-Nazi hooligans attacking fans from various countries, seems to indicate that the level of overt racism still needs to be addressed globally.

You can help against racism! The registered association Internetspende presents the charity portal www.Spenden-WM.de for the advancement of effective football projects:

- Football for disabled people
- Football projects for street children in Mexico
- Prevention of violence in football
- Youth football projects

Each donation goes 100 per cent to the projects. The portal offers the user exciting ways to support the different projects. You can purchase by auction different football rarities, play online games or subscribe to money directly. Spenden-WM.de is furthermore official partner of the INAS-FID Football World Championchip 2006 for mentally disabled people. This international event takes place from 26th August to 17th September in Germany.