by Gabriel Coketrone
On the eve of the start of the 2021/2022 season, the Premier League decided to take action against the recent discriminatory attacks its players are facing. The organizers of the English Championship this Tuesday (10) announced a set of actions to punish those with prejudice against officials, players and referees. One of the main measures is the ban of these fans from all stadiums.
“This is a great initiative. The idea of stopping the presence of people authorized to express their racism in a sporting environment tells the football community that this type of behavior will not be accepted and encourages those who Aggression to report who have been attacked or are witnesses. I also understand this as an attitude that supports athletes, who are often angered and upset by racist attacks, “specializing in human rights Advocate Monica Sapukia says.
“I see this action as fundamental in the anti-racism fight, because it stops thinking about actions to actually execute them. When these unions unite to ban these fans, So they are giving a clear message that cases of racism will no longer be tolerated. From that moment on, people will start to reconsider these attitudes, because every time there is a matter of racism and the attacker is not punished, Others feel free to do the same”, evaluates Marcelo Carvalho, from the ‘observatory of racism’.
Andrei Kampf, the lawyer, journalist and author of this blog, also considers this measure necessary. “Education is always the first way. Law comes forward. In law, unwanted behavior should be prevented by rule/law and then, if not respected, punished”, he says.
The new season, which begins next Friday (13) with a match between Brentford and Arsenal, will mark the complete return of fans to stadiums since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the feeling that “football is nothing without fans”, recent cases of online abuse have prompted players to take a stand and demand effective action from the authorities against the perpetrators.
According to the Premier League, the new punishments are part of a campaign against racism called ‘No Room for Racism’. It aims to focus more on identifying criminal behavior inside and outside the stands through the league’s online discriminatory abuse reporting system that will be in constant contact with law enforcement officials and clubs. In addition, there are plans to adopt educational measures around the practices of equality, diversity and inclusion.
“We ask fans to join us and our clubs in helping to fight discrimination, challenge and report abuse,” urged Premier League CEO Richard Masters.
The measures were announced days after Twitter presented data from an analysis of online abuse against England players during Euros. The social networking platform said it removed 1,622 racist messages within 24 hours of the ruling. According to the company, most of the messages were made by people living in the UK.
This type of attitude had become common in English football last season. Following the final of the European competition, fans lost their penalties on social networks of players from Rashford, Sancho and Saka, England, for publishing racist messages. The case generated rebellion in various sectors of the society and was the trigger for the implementation of these actions. 11 people have died so far Held To be involved in acts by the police in England.
Despite reports made by Twitter, the Premier League believes the social network can and should do more to combat racism and discrimination.
“These entities are companies, so they cannot enforce public policy, but they can and should create mechanisms in their operating environment that make their activity as a platform for human rights abuses impossible”, Monica insists on Sapukia.
For Marcelo Carvalo, this set of measures “puts pressure on social networks to begin detecting and excluding these crimes from the Internet”.
“We have to stop racism and there is nothing stronger than banning and punishing these attackers”, he says.
In May, the English Federation (FA) called on the British government to change the law to compel platforms to take action against online abuse.
To draw attention to the gravity of the situation, the federation, along with English football clubs and leagues, came together to boycott social media from 30 April to 3 May.
“The Premier League and our clubs condemn all forms of discriminatory and abusive behavior. The commitment of all clubs to enforce sanctions across the league demonstrates that there is no place for any discrimination in football and that we all fight it. Will continue to work together for the form of bias,” concluded Masters.
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