NO ACTION FROM UEFA!!
"Just a Ball Game?" are saddened to hear that it seems that UEFA have decided that they will not be taking any action against Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for comments he made live on TV towards referees when he alluded to them as "y esos maricones" ( and those faggots) during a training session on the CSKA pitch on 20th February.
This morning, UEFA spokesperson Veron Mossingo Omba stated that UEFA "Don't know when they will do something against Mourinho; we have priorities and this is not one! We have a lot of work and we don’t know when we will work on it."
It seems also that Mr Omba could not even put any time frame for an investigation on the issue.
Founding director of "Just a Ball Game?" Lindsay England responded: "For five months now we have seen investigations taken place by the FA [Football Association] here in England as homophobic comments from a number of players have appeared on social network site Twitter, with fines being imposed on the offenders."
"It saddens us because six years ago UEFA introduced a five-point plan of action against sexism and homophobia to their UNITE AGAINST RACISM initiative in partnership with FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) at the second UAR conference at the Camp Nou, Barcelona."
The statements in that very same UEFA documentation claimed both of the following:
A) The reason players have not come out is because the structures of the game of football are not seen as tolerant enough for a player to risk coming out.
B) It is at club level that action to tackle racism and homophobia bears most fruit.
We here at Just a Ball Game? can only do so much to promote diversity and challenge homophobia within the game. The people at the very top of the game must also take some responsibility and action. Messages and action and ones that are genuine also have to come from leaders in the game.
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