So Millwall gaffer Alex Neil wants racism stamped out, but not at the expense of the match. Taking the necessary steps to eradicate the blight by stopping the game for a few minutes is too inconvenient when there are three points to be won, it seems.
He might be surprised to discover the speed with which the flames of this story have spread. The seven-minute stoppage that left Neil so angry, and the post-match discussion of it during which Neil missed the point by the length of the Blackwall Tunnel, have raised the profile of the matter, amping it with the significance it deserves.
“I just don’t see the point [of stopping the game for alleged racist abuse,” Neil told the BBC. “It needs to get dealt with, absolutely. But stopping the game doesn’t deal with anything. All it does is kill the momentum.” Catching his breath, he added: “Listen, if we score I probably don’t feel this way, but that’s how I feel just now.”
I get it. The contest against Championship leaders Swansea was 65 minutes old and in the balance at 0-0 when the referee triggered protocols following allegations of racism against visiting substitute, Eom Ji-sung of South Korea.
Victory would have taken Millwall into a share of third place, a critical moment then in the high-pressure setting of professional football. The match was delayed by almost seven minutes while referee Edward Duckworth awaited the arrival of security staff to advance the process.
A pain for sure, but one surely worth tolerating when the alternative perpetuates the problem by doing too little. Millwall lost the game to a last-minute goal, which Neil admitted rattled his emotions.
Those seven minutes have charged the atmosphere around the issue and challenged the game to be ever more vigilant about policing supporters. Not acting amounts to tolerance and acceptance. Far from doing little, the seven-minute stoppage in a random football match keeps racism high on the agenda.
Millwall released a statement to say that they “condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, and there is no place for such behaviour in football or in society. The club wants to place on record its thanks for the swift and decisive manner in which the match officials, Millwall Football Club and the police dealt with the incident… We stand with Jisung, and he has our unstinting love and support.”
For the majority of Britons, racism is an abstraction that is understood but never experienced. Racists flip the coin by claiming equivalence when minorities fight back. Except there is no equivalence when power and influence is historically and culturally so deeply entrenched in the white community.
Eom was warming up when someone in the crowd hit the abuse button. By all means barrack the oppo, give ’em some stick. It’s part of the pageant, adds to the atmosphere and all that. You might even get a laugh from the player.
Read more
- Kevin Garside: Man City players are behaving like an abhorrent Maga mob
- The Journeyman: England’s 93rd-best football club are coming for the establishment
Racism is something else, and meant for the ears of all in ear shot as much as the victim. A not so subtle restating of values, of attitudes, of difference and supremacy. You are not like us. You are not one of us. You are not welcome. Know your place. In other words a good, old dog whistle.
This stuff happens in lots of places. Of course it does. This just so happened to be at Millwall, a club with history in the field. The club issued a statement reiterating zero tolerance and threatening the strongest possible action should allegations progress to arrest and conviction.
In football, we might all do better at being on our guard, taking action, identifying the perpetrators and not moaning if the match is stopped for a few minutes. Neil is not a racist. Neither is he the benchmark for tackling it.