UK and Serbian Media on Racism in Football

Published: 18 October 2012

Region: Europe

Football match between English and Serbian Under 21’s players has sparked yet again a discussion about racism in sport, but it has also made the way media are reporting on this issue disputable. Racism is an issue British media has been dealing with for decades. But Serbian media, as it seems, need more clarity and direct condemnation of the racially motivated attacks as seen on Tuesday night match in Serbia.

Kick It Out, football’s anti-discrimination organisation, has launched their annual “One Game, One Community” programme which includes the biggest ever fans’ survey on tackling racism and discrimination in football. The survey comes after a troubled year for English football, which saw Luis Suárez and John Terry both banned for racist abuse and a number of current and former players targeted by racists via social media, while on Tuesday night England Under-21s were racially and physically abused in Serbia, reports Guardian.

The survey will run all season and cover topics including how to improve reporting of abusive behaviour and enforcement in grounds, to combating abusive behaviour on social media.

It seems like the similar initiative is very much needed in Serbia too where media reports lack the condemnation of racism on football pitch and elsewhere.

In the first reports on the match between English and Serbian Under 21’s players Serbian media missed the opportunity to clearly state that Serbian fans did racially abused some of the English players. Media coverage consisted of reporting on what the officials of both sides have said and only in some of the columns Serbian journalists reported on racism as an issue.

“Serbian culture remains nationalistic and nowhere is this more openly expressed than within a football culture”, wrote Sky News Foreign Affairs editor Tim Marshall.

“Most Serbs would never indulge in monkey chants such as those heard in Krusevac, indeed many would condemn them”. “However, because they have not gone through the societal debate which the UK has had for 50 years now, the Krusevac incident is not a big story in Serbia. The coverage there is mostly about the fight on the pitch, not the racist angle”, reports Marshall  who was Sky News’ correspondent from Belgrade in 1999.

Lord Herman Ouseley, chair of Kick It Out, said: “At a time when discrimination is high up the football agenda, it is easy for fans and players to forget the great strides made over the past 20 years in helping to eradicate it.

“But there is still a long way to go. We are launching this important dialogue with football fans to help set out how we move forward to achieve a zero tolerance approach to discrimination in all its forms, at all levels of the game”, says Ouseley.