Euro 2012 Overshadowed By Racism

Euro 2012 is turning out to be a hell of an interesting event. Not just because of the upsets, excitement and thrill that the event has to offer, but also for all the racial rows and discrimination that are now defining and outlining the new lines of European football. In the latest showdown of racial profiling the most prominent victims are two English players, Ashley Cole and Ashley Young.

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The process of their racial assassination began after they were unable to score goals on penalty shootouts for their team in their Euro 2012 quarterfinal against Italy. The result was the elimination of English team from the Euro Championship race. And for expressing the frustration of disqualification, people do not have any better option than Twitter. Interestingly, this is not the first time that Twitter users have got in trouble with the law.

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We are well aware of South Wales resident Liam Stacey who was jailed for 56 days after he used the social networking site as a platform for mocking Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba. In addition to this the case of Young and Cole is not the only example one will find of racial targeting in Euro 2012 this time. Italian player Mario Balotelli has already been victimized after a banana was thrown at him during Italy’s clash with Croatia.

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With such incidents repeatedly taking place, there are a couple of things which are quite evident. Firstly, fans and supporters of different teams have become intolerant and inflexible enough that they are not ready to forgive their team members even for a penalty shoot that they missed.

Secondly, the frequency with which such offensive acts take place, it is not far when we will actually recall a soccer event not because of its best and worst performances, but on the number of players who were racially targeted and abused either on the field or on different social networks. The assessment criteria for the game will change and judging from its state at present, it is expected not to take much long.

So, this is precisely for all football fans out there. No matter whatever you do, please think about the sportsman spirit, and if you claim to do so, then show it.