December 17 – Less than three weeks after Serie A clubs in Italy pledged collectively to combat the “serious problem” of racism, further criticism has rained down from anti-discriminatory bodies following a totally ill-judged campaign featuring paintings of apes.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – Quick to point the finger at football-fuelled racism elsewhere in Europe, the English game is going through a period of intense soul-searching following a spate of instances over the weekend from the Premier League to the fourth tier, one of the alleged culprits being as young as 13 years old.
December 9 – Police have arrested a man in connection with alleged racial gestures and chanting in Saturday’s Premier League derby between Manchester City and Manchester United.
December 5 – A leading Italian sports daily has been widely criticised for a headline reading ‘Black Friday’ featuring two leading black Serie A players.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has re-iterated his long-held view that more needs to be done to combat racism in European football following an unwelcome resurgence of discrimination across the Continent, from Bulgaria to Italy.
December 2 – Not before time, all 20 Serie A clubs in Italy have made a united pledge to combat the “serious problem” of racism which, they say, “shames us all”.
November 26 – Not so long ago he was a special adviser to Gianni Infantino as FIFA’s head of technical development. Now, as a television analyst, Marco van Basten has been suspended for making a Nazi remark.
November 26 – The controversial president of Italian club Brescia is facing accusations of racism after wading into the debate over striker Mario Balotelli who earlier this month briefly walked off in protest at being targeted by Hellas Verona fans.
November 21 – World players’ union FIFPro have reacted angrily to a decision to ban a Brazilian midfielder playing in Ukraine for reacting to racist abuse.
November 21 – Players in the Netherlands’ top two divisions will not play the first minute of all matches this weekend, standing still in silence to draw attention to racism, the first country to take such action.
November 11 – A Brazilian midfielder playing in Ukraine for leading club Shakhtar Donesk was sent off at the weekend and reduced to tears for reacting to alleged racist abuse.
November 8 – US women’s football star Megan Rapinoe, who became a global icon after capturing the hearts of millions of fans worldwide during the women’s World Cup and who has led the campaign for gender equality, has accused football’s stakeholders of reacting insufficiently to the recent scourge of racist abuse.
November 6 – The head of Hellas Verona’s ultras group has been banned by the club for 11 years relating to the racist abuse aimed at Bescia striker Mario Balotelli last weekend.
November 4 – As well as VAR making headlines after another weekend of top-flight action across Europe, racism was once again at the forefront of controversy – and yet again in Italy where striker Mario Balotelli kicked a ball into the stands and briefly walked off in protest at being targeted by Hellas Verona fans.
November 1 – English Championship club Queens Park Rangers have accused both FIFA and UEFA of brushing a racism complaint under the carpet as they wait to hear whether action will be taken over an incident that prompted their under-18 team to abandon a game in Spain.