Clubs and supporters must be punished heavier and faster with racist incidents. The trade union of professional football players argues for this, after monkey sounds were made on Saturday towards Willem II striker Samuel Bamba. That happened during the match of Willem II against SC Cambuur in Leeuwarden.
Supporters in the stand of SC Cambuur Begende Bamba with monkey sounds when the player was changed. It was the first game to play the 21-year-old for Willem II.
Afterwards he complained to social media: “I am disappointed and angry that after my very first competition for Willem II I should already talk about this,” he wrote. “Maybe you shouldn’t go to the stadium, but to a zoo, if you want to talk to ‘monkeys’.”
The chairman of the trade union of contract players (VVCS), former top football player Evgeniy Levchenko, calls it ‘very sad’ that Bamba was confronted with racism this weekend. He believes that more should be done to eliminate racism in football.
Three reports per year
The KNVB receives an average report of discriminatory chants in stadiums three times a year. These are competitions in the Eredivisie and the Kitchen Champion Division, a total of eight hundred duels.
That does not mean that things go wrong three times a year. Not every speaking choir is sufficiently audible and therefore not everything is registered.
The fact that there are only three reports per year, it again indicates that we only see the tip of the iceberg, says Jacco van Sterkenburg, professor of racism, inclusion and communication at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. “Players often have something like: let’s go. It is part of the top sport not to report it.”
Van Sterkenburg understands why players are reluctant to do this: “They are top athletes. They want to accelerate their career. Racism is not part of that. That is hassle, athletes don’t want to be busy with that. That may seem as if it hardly happens, but it is much more common than we think.”
Higher fines or points deduction
According to Levchenko, there are ways to tackle misconduct with supporters. Supporters who are going to write can be detected with current technology, he says. “With cameras with all the trimmings, you can get a lot for each other.” According to him, punishment must be imposed more often, because it really impresses supporters.
For example, he also thinks of higher fines for clubs and individual supporters who misbehave. Supporters can be fined 450 euros, clubs fines from ten thousand to twenty thousand euros. “That’s a lot of money, but you prefer to touch them where it hurts: in the wallet.”
Levchenko also suggests other measures if things go wrong: “If you have to play home games without an audience or deduct points, there will really be more attention for their own supporters.”
Address each other
Supporters also have an important role in combating racism and discrimination, says Humberto Tan, chairman of the MijnALS committee. The committee was created by the KNVB and advises on fighting racism and discrimination in football.
“Clubs should not only be financially healthy, but also socially healthy. That means an environment where supporters correct each other in the event of undesirable behavior. That they dare to address each other if things go wrong. It would be nice if clubs get a self -cleaning capacity in this way,” says Tan.
Other measures that clubs can take are an identification obligation if supporters go into the stadium, camera systems to recognize perpetrators faster and stricter penalties for clubs. “If you do not do enough as a club to reduce the chance of discrimination, such as projects for youth and supporters, that could mean something for your license. You can turn those buttons.”
Pilots to recognize perpetrators
The KNVB says that it is not always easy to tackle perpetrators of discriminatory chants. According to the union, it is difficult to get the evidence.
There are, however, pilots with smart camera systems with which instigators can be recognized faster. The football association is not going to tinker with the height of the fines for the time being, because the KNVB of the judge was told a few times that the penalties were already too high.
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