Tottenham Hotspur has had a week that many who consider themselves soccer fans would not like to remember.

Although they came out on top in a 3-1 victory over West Ham United on Sunday, Tottenham left the stadium feeling uncomfortable, after spending a good portion of the match receiving anti-Semitic chants from a small portion of West Ham supporters.

These anti-Semitic chants come days after Tottenham took a trip to Rome to face Lazio fora Europa League match, which came with a large amount of anti-Semitic abuse and one Tottenham fan being stabbed in a confrontation at a local bar in Rome shortly after the match.

West Ham fans were reportedly found chanting “Viva Lazio” throughout a portion of the match, and were also found mocking the gassing of Jews during the Holocaust.

The Football Association, along with West Ham United, plans to look into these chants and  punish those found guilty, which could involve lifelong bans from the grounds.

But the questions still remain: Why is Tottenham such a common target? Why has the abuse increased now? And why do these types of chants still exist in today’s game?

Being from the North London area, Tottenham has a large Jewish fan base. And being one of the oldest clubs in England, founded in 1882, their fans have gone through many years in which anti-Semitic abuse was sadly common.

Tottenham supporters joined together to nickname themselves “Yids,” not because their rivals called them this, but because they believed that accepting the name would take the negative connotations out of it, and later help stop the unnecessary abuse. Other fans disagree with taking the nickname as their own; many believe that accepting it would lead to more and even worse abuse from rivals.

It is not just Tottenham that are receiving abuse from their rivals.

Other well known rivalries have led to harsh abuse over the years. For example, Liverpool and Manchester United are always having issues: some Liverpool fans reference the Munich Air Disaster in their chants, and some Manchester United fans can be found chanting about the Hillsborough Disaster.

The reason why such racial and anti-Semitic abuse has increased in recent weeks is not quite clear. There is always tension between fans, and with international championships like the UEFA Champions League underway, teams from different countries travel to one another, and often travel straight into the firing line of racial and anti-Semitic abuse that goes far beyond the soccer pitch.

Something that has made soccer into the beautiful game that everyone has come to know and love, is that the long histories that each club has with its fans is well known by all. Although hooliganism has decreased a considerable amount in the past couple of decades, many of the older supporters from past generations have left a somewhat disfiguring impression on modern day supporters, and on what they consider to be morally correct actions. This explains how many of these chants and songs have stood the test of time, and are still used today.

Unfortunately, much of the old ways of being a fan have found their way into modern day. Even though the racial and anti-Semitic abuse is considered wrong and immoral, it is still used and could be considered common banter. In the end, we as supporters need to look at ourselves and ask if it is necessary. Only then will supporters who choose to chant these insults realize all they’re doing is hurting their own club, and themselves.

Image Courtesy : Tottenham Hotspur

The article Why Tottenham Are a Common Victim of Chant Abuse appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Racism in sports leaves an ugly trail through the competition –  Toonarians Alex Shaw and Brian Anderson look into this issue within soccer. With the recent allegations made against John Terry of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, fresh worries have surfaced about the prevalence of racism in soccer.

Things were then made worse by the comments of FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, who denied there was any problem with racism on the pitch and that any incidents of racism could be solved simply by a handshake.

Regardless of the verdict, the Terry case has damaged the reputation of the English game, a league widely known to have very little problem with racism, especially in contrast to some of the other European leagues, who suffer from incidences of racism both on the pitch and from fans at the games.

The soccer scene in England has enjoyed a fairly good reputation since the late ’80s, with cases of racism few and far between – a key factor behind the fact that black, and more recently Asian, players are represented in the Premier League to a higher degree than in any other national league.

While the players will now come under a higher level of scrutiny for their behavior on the pitch, there has been little complaint about the conduct of the fans up and down the country in terms of their attitude towards players of different ethnicities. Furthermore, the appointments of black players Paul Ince, John Barnes, and Sol Campbell as England captains, have been widely well-received and praised by the majority of England fans.

Whilst the same cannot be said of some fans in Europe, with England players Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips both being subjected to racist chants during a game against Spain in Madrid, which even drew the ire of then British prime minister Tony Blair, the England national team, which is usually roughly made up of a 50/50 split of white and black players, has the full backing of their home fans.

Although much of the inclusive attitude in English soccer can be attributed to similar social attitudes in the United Kingdom as a whole, the influence of campaigns such as ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out Of Football’ combat this issue.  This initiative was started in 1993 and aimed to encourage inclusion and eradicate discrimination in both the soccer and educational sectors.

Funded by the Football Association, Premier League, and Players Association, the campaign is now in its eighteenth  year and has helped make the English league one of the most multicultural and desired places to play in world soccer.

Whilst cases such as Terry’s need to be treated with the utmost seriousness and should they be found guilty of any kind of discriminatory behavior, the harshest appropriate punishment should be handed out, to suggest that racism is a significant problem in English soccer would be to do a disservice to the players and fans, who on the majority, show no racially discriminatory behavior of any sort.

This has even led to soccer becoming a way to try to decrease racism outside of sports, through the ‘Football Unites, Racism Divides’ campaign. Started in 1995, the program looks to bring together communities, where racism still continues to be a problem, by appealing to them through their local clubs stars.

This helps integrate the communities, who see their soccer heroes, both black and white, interacting harmoniously and helps teach them to act similarly.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/theredcard

The article Racism in Soccer: England Campaign to Kick Racism Out appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.