Balotelli suffer racists attack Bananas. Never support Spain

[Eaglezbeak]

Total disgrace... Good for UEFA... What they have been avoiding for years is now biting them in the face....

yea, you can blame UEFA all you want, but you have blacks/Africans/Nigerians who support barcelona. A team thats has players who think blacks are monekys. In fact, a member of this forum will sell his own soul, just to have a wiff of Xavi's under pants.

Nigerians & Africans are not relevant they are just Africans that don't know much about racial abuse until they cross the straights Gibralter illegally,the rascists are saying blacks should not b e playing in the Euros let alone spectating.

[phantomjournalist]

It is hard to have pity on Balotelli afterall, he wants to be Itallian when he is not. Is that in itself not racism against his own race? But I respect Dude's footballing abilities. I am a fan of the outrageous one. Balo will be back.

What? He was born and raised in Italy. All he knows is Italy. His first language is Italian. His nationality is Italian. His adoptive parents are Italian. It's like saying Walcott, Johnson, AOC, Defoe, Young etc "want to be English". Very ignorant comment from you bro.

[phantomjournalist]

What's with the selective racism anyway? Do the Croats think Eduardo is a white man? Did Senna's race somehow magically change when he began playing for Spain?

[okokobioko]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... CMP=twt_gu

Euro 2012: Slaven Bilic wants to banish racist Croatia fans 'forever'

• Head coach delivers strong condemnation of 'crazy few'
• Speculation about possible 2-2 'fix' with Spain is dismissed

Sid Lowe in Gdansk

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 17 June 2012 17.58 EDT

Croatia's head coach, Slaven Bilic, said racist behaviour by a minority of fans should be punished severely by Uefa. Photograph: Kamil Krzaczynski/EPA


Croatia's head coach, Slaven Bilic, has delivered the strongest condemnation of racism yet and insisted that sanctions must be imposed in order to stamp out the problem forever. His words come two days before Uefa is due to make a decision on the punishment handed out after a banana was thrown on the pitch and around 200 fans made monkey chants during Croatia's 1-1 draw with Italy last Thursday.

The banana was not noticed during the game but evidence that it had been thrown by one of their fans emerged the following day, while fan observers said some Croatia supporters had indulged in racist chanting. Croatia have been charged with improper conduct by Uefa, with the verdict expected on Tuesday. The investigation comes in the aftermath of Russia being handed a suspended six-point punishment after fans fought with stewards in Wroclaw.

Asked whether he expects a similar punishment, Bilic did not shirk the issue. Instead, he called for stern action to be taken. "[Racism] is a big problem all around Europe and all around the world and on behalf of the entire nation, not even as a football manager, I want to say that I am really disappointed as a Croatian, a parent, and a sportsman, a person who comes from a modern, open-minded and tolerant state," he said.

"Everyone is welcome in our country. I don't like these kind of supporters and nor do my players. I live in Croatia and we really are a tolerant country. We are not a racist country and we are angry at these few crazy supporters. We have to put sanctions [in place] and stop these kind of supporters forever."

Bilic also responded to speculation surrounding Croatia's final group game with Spain. A 2-2 draw would guarantee that both sides go through, putting Italy out. But Bilic, like the Spain players before him, insisted there would be no pact.

"I can say the same thing on this issue as I did about racism. We are sportsmen, we are parents, we are normal people, most of us are Catholic people, or have another religion, and we do not even think about fixing the scoreline. I don't want to waste any more words on this.

"This is just a phenomenal match. The whole of Italy and Europe can calm down. They do not even need to think about this. This [fixing games] is a part of the brain we do not have. We have to be honest and we will play the game in an honest way. If the final score is 2-2, fine. That can happen. It is not going to be 7-7, which would be strange. To the Italians I say: 'Trust in us.'"

Bilic's discourse was one of patriotic pride and his tone spoke of the anger and hurt that accusations of racism have provoked. He spoke in glowing terms of Croatia's personality and explained how that has enabled a tiny country to compete with the best in the world. "We have been in the top 10 since our independence in 1994," he said.

The captain, Darijo Srna, said: "Even [Leo] Messi is not the same for Argentina as for Barcelona, or Ronaldo for Portugal as for Real Madrid. Croatian players play even better for national team than for the clubs. Croatia is a small country but we have a big character, we fight until the end. Not just in football but in all sports. Our character is very important and that is why we are always amongst the top teams."

[mate]

What's with the selective racism anyway? Do the Croats think Eduardo is a white man? Did Senna's race somehow magically change when he began playing for Spain?

There's no excuse. Again, I can only say that it's a minority of fans. If FIFA and UEFA are ready to hand out really harsh punishment, bring it on. There is talk about Croatia being docked -6 points for WC qualifying.

But I will say this: if Spain and other bigger countries don't face the same punishment, then it's all a farce. Worse, it will do nothing to help diminish racism in general in Europe, as everybody will know money talks louder than principle. Given this is Europe we're taking about, I have little confidence that the UEFA authorities will do the right thing. I expect Croatia will be made a sacrificial pawn, whilst Spain gets a free pass because they're Western European and bring in too much revenue.

Regardless, Croatia is doing its soul searching and fighting extremism on all fronts. I fully expect we will have our own monitors who track hooligans and ban them from matches. We'll kill this problem one way or the other. If it costs us a WC, so be it...but people of good will should consider the consequences of more favored nations getting away with it.

And people wonder why Europe is such a mess when it comes to tensions. Glad I live in the US. Not saying it's paradise here, but it's certainly better than Europe when it comes to tolerance.

Cheers, Mate

[ElHadary]

It's not a surprise, Europeans have always looked at Africa/Middle East in fear and awe. To say Europeans being racist, well for the most part, should come as no surprise given its history. Relative to what they try and convince us, they're culturally adept however xenophobic. Moors from Africa, Huns sweeping across Russia, Turks threatening the Balkans and the Islamic Caliphate to southern France they look at outsiders as a threat.

One need not look any further than the last Euro. I used to idle on a couple of European soccer forums and the racist stuff directed towards Turks was absolutely out of this world.

[Cristao II]

Wow - Bilic has really done well there.