Blogger: Obiora Aneke
"Is it worse than racism?" – Michael Antonio
"Is it worse than racism?" This was the question put to the media by West ham striker Michael Antonio in light of the recent cat-kicking incident from his fellow teammate Kurt Zouma.
On the 9th of February a video released online of Zouma kicking his cat, to which the football world was outraged. Zouma was fined £250,000 and subsequently dropped from his Adidas sponsor. In addition to this, Zouma’s low league playing brother had his professional contract terminated as was recording the incident. Some may argue punishment was nowhere near enough however, a recent argument of racial injustice has sparked online. In 2018, Jamie Carragher was filmed spitting on a child, the sky sports pundit faced no sanctions. In 2013, former Chelsea player Eden Hazard kicked a ball boy in the ribs, received a red card for that game and faced no further sanctions. Finally, in 2012, Luis Suarez racially abused Patrice Evra. Suarez’ sponsor, adidas, issued a warning however, ended sponsorship deal with Kurt Zouma for kicking his cat. Again, we must question, 'Is it worse than racism?’
The issue of racism in football seems to be getting increasingly worse, yet no solution can be found. 60 per cent of fans attending matches feel racism sanctions aren't harsh enough.
Fifa’s disciplinary code states that when a team’s supporters are found guilty of exhibiting racial abuse, the club in question is fined up to $30,000 or £23,000, merely a drop in the ocean compared to the enormous wealth that football clubs have. In 2021, during England’s 4-0 victory over Hungary, many players of the English national team were victims of racial abuse in the form of monkey chants. Consequently, the nation of Hungary as a whole, was issued a fine of £158,416, which is the largest fine issued over racist behaviour, yet an individual, Kurt Zouma, was fined £250,000 for kicking his cat. It should be a club/country’s responsibility to find, prosecute, imprison, and impose lifetime bans on racist individuals who are unable to function in modern day society. As time progresses, it seems like every other social issue takes priority over racism, and there will never be sufficient sanctions to end this continuous abuse minority races have been suffering for hundreds of years.