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A recent surge of racial abuses in football has brought to the fore a deeply troubling issue that continues to exist within the sport.

Over the last week, ZINGTIE noted occurrences involving players such as Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid, Wesley Fofana of Chelsea, Tolu Arokodare from Wolves, and Hannibal Mejbri of Burnley. These incidents show that racism persists in football, impacting individuals and their mental health.

This kind of conduct is detrimental not just to the players but also to the overall integrity of football.

It also reduces the inclusive spirit that the sport aims to promote.

ZINGTIE examines the recent surge of racial abuse directed at certain players over the past few weeks.

Vinicius Junior

During the first leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off Round of 16 clash last week, the Real Madrid winger alleged that he was subjected to racial abuse by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.

After the Brazilian winger netted the match’s sole goal, the incident occurred.

After a preliminary investigation, UEFA announced on Monday that Prestianni would be provisionally suspended for one match due to his altercation with Vinicius.

Tolu Arokodare

After his team’s 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the Wolves striker displayed the racially aggravated messages he received on Instagram.

During the first half of the match, the Nigerian international had his penalty saved, contributing to Wolves’ eventual loss.

Wolves confirmed that the abusive posts have been reported to the relevant platforms and that they will collaborate with the English Premier League and authorities to identify those responsible.

Wesley Fofana

After Chelsea’s Premier League match against Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, which ended in a 1-1 draw, the Chelsea defender posted on Instagram screenshots of racist messages he received privately.

After receiving two yellow cards in the second half of the match against Burnley and being sent off, Fofana shared screenshots of messages he had received and posted on Instagram: „2026, es bleibt alles beim Alten, es ändert sich nichts. These individuals face no consequences.

Hannibal Mejbri

Similar to Wesley Fofana from Chelsea, Mejbri posted pictures of the racist direct messages he received on Instagram.

This comes after Burnley’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

In a conversation with ZINGTIE on Monday, Ibrahim Lawal, a Media Consultant and Football Development Expert, shared his perspective on the topic.

Lawal said, “The origin of racism in world footballing dates back to the early years of segregation of black players. It became more prevalent in South Africa during the apartheid period, when black players were restricted from leagues. This caused the intervention of FIFA in 1961 and 1964, banning the South African Football Association for 28 years.

“The recent episode that featured Real Madrid player Vinicius during the Champions League Round of 16 playoffs against Benfica, took the shine off the win as the game had to be stopped after Vinicius signaled to the referee and was walking away from the pitch that he was racially abused by a Benfica player who called him a monkey.

“The Benfica player though denied the allegation but from his defense, it was obvious he was guilty as he tried to say that he actually called Vinicius my brother rather than the use of the word monkey, in Portuguese. However, both words don’t sound the same.

“The most painful racial abuse of the decade was during the 2022 FIFA World Cup when England was knocked out of the competition by Croatia.

“The duo or trio of Saka, Jude Beligham and Raheem Sterling, who are all of black origin, were singled out for criticism and were racially abused; a caricature of them in monkey features was made and shared on social media for missing penalties.

“Though FIFA has zero tolerance and sanctions for players, officials and clubs, which include up to a 10-match ban, money fines, stadium ban and even match forfeiture, also giving much stricter sanctions for 2nd offenders.

“These rules may have curbed the volume of abuse but not entirely eradicating it, as such, FIFA needs to be more vicious and ruthless in their stance, like banning a player or club for a whole season from both local and international tournaments and leagues.

“Also, imposing higher fines of up to one million pounds to erring players will send a message and deter others from engaging in racial abuse.

“The idea of world football is to further unite the world under one umbrella, just like music does, to bridge the gap between diverse cultures, religions, and colors. FIFA should not relent on its stance to combat and control racial discrimination in world football.”

Femi Fabunmi, a journalist from Lagos, also spoke with ZINGTIE about the topic and emphasized that racism should not be tolerated in football.

He believes that football should bring people together rather than create divisions.

“Racism is bad in its entirety and shouldn’t be condoned. Football is meant to unite and not divide, so any form of violent abuse should be met with proportional punishment,” Fabunmi said.

“Players and fans should be sensitized to the reasons not to involve or initiate any form of racial abuse. And to persons already involved, they should be penalised to serve as a deterrence to others.”

Eagle Stars FC coach Isma’il Musa urged FIFA and UEFA to impose harsher penalties on those found guilty of racial abuse.

“There has been racism in football for a very long time. In my thoughts, several important measures can be put in place to tackle it effectively,” Musa said.

“Firstly, football authorities such as FIFA and UEFA should enforce stricter punishments. Clubs whose fans engage in racist behaviour should face heavy fines, points deductions, stadium closures, or even competition bans. Individual offenders should receive lifetime bans from stadiums and face legal consequences.

“Secondly, matches should be stopped immediately if racist chanting or abuse occurs. Clear zero-tolerance policies must be applied consistently so that everyone understands racism will not be ignored.”

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