SOCCER:THE CHAIRMAN of the anti-racism campaign Kick It Out, Lord Ouseley, has defended the organisation and blamed the football authorities for a lack of leadership following a weekend that saw a number of players boycott the charity's awareness drive by refusing to wear shirts promoting its message.
Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand and Reading’s striker Jason Roberts are among a growing group of players disenchanted with Kick It Out’s efforts to stamp out racism and discrimination. The pair’s decision not to wear the organisation’s branded shirt while warming up for their matches on Saturday came a year after the exchange between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand that led to the former England captain’s four-match ban by the English FA and £220,000 fine for using racist language. At Loftus Road yesterday, before Queens Park Rangers’ match with Everton, several players including Anton Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Nedum Onouha, Sylvain Distin and Victor Anichebe also decided not to wear the T-shirts.
Ouseley, however, has rebutted the perceived lack of action from Kick It Out, claiming that the group is relatively powerless by comparison with the FA and Premier League. “We don’t make the decisions, we don’t run football. We are a small charity trying to help football come to terms with the reality of the 21st century,” he said. “We can shout from the rooftops and I can understand what the black players are saying: you are too involved in the game in the way you operate to be independent and say the things that have to be said.
“The power and decision-making is with the Football Association and the Premier League. They know what has to be done. We’ve been knocking on their door for a long, long time so they know what their responsibilities are. The absence of their voices during all this has been noticeable.”
The FA has said it continues to give its “unequivocal” backing to Kick It Out but the governing body believes the decision of whether to support the charity remains an individual and club matter. A spokesman said: “The FA are 100 per cent supporters of Kick It Out, we are funding partners and believe they have an extremely important role in helping the authorities to fight discrimination. The FA have increased funding for the current year and are reviewing funding going forward.” FA chairman David Bernstein also released a statement last Friday saying it was doing its utmost to stamp out racism. “John Terry has now been sanctioned and held accountable for his actions. I am pleased he has apologised and we must now draw a line under this matter. However, we too will learn from the case,” he said.
Ouseley did not criticise the players who opted against wearing the shirts. “Those players have every right to express their grievances. I think their grievances are misdirected at not wearing a T-shirt because I think the grievances are much more substantial. I think it’s with the game as a whole.”
