John Terry Race Row: Racist Chelsea Fans And Newcastle’s Zero Tolerance
JOHN Terry Race Row: Anorak’s round-up of the Chelsea captain’s travails in the news:
Front pages:
The Sun: “POLICE PROBE TERRY RACE ROW”
Daily Star: “Race row cops will quiz Terry”
The Back Pages:
The Times: “Terry fced with England axe – Capello under pressure to omit captain as police investigate racism claim”
Should you lose your job because of an allegation?
Posted: 2nd, November 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (3) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
QPR’s Anton Ferdinand Retweets His Views On Chelsea’s John Terry?
HAVING said he was maintaining a dignified silence until the FA has completed its investigation into Chelsea’s John Terry’s allegedly racist rant, QPR’s Anton Ferdinand goes on Twitter. His “no comment” comment turns into a spot of retweeting other people’s comments on the row:
In reply to one idiot tweeting ”RT this you f****** BLACK C***” 1 England captain” Ferdinand retweets this:
“More proof of JT leading his moronic fans by example.”
Posted: 1st, November 2011 | In: Sports | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
‘Immoral’ Bottom Fingering Sees Two Persepolis Players Banned From Every Stadiums In Iran (Video)
TO Iran, where Persepolis players,
have been banned from entering any and all Iranian stadiums after partaking in a post-goal ‘bum grope’ celebration during the Persian Gulf Cup match with Damash Gilan - a match that was broadcast live to a vast audience.
Rezaei his also said to been spotted “hugging a teammate too intimately” following a goal later in the game, with both players’ conduct being deemed ‘immoral’ by the Iranian FA.
Posted: 1st, November 2011 | In: Sports | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
John Terry’s Racism: Matthew Syed Insults Chelsea’s André Villas-Boas
DAY 10 of the media’s persecution of Chelsea captain John Terry over alleged spot to racial abuse aimed at QPR’S Anton Ferdinand.
Before we see Matthew Syed’s words in the Times, Ferdinand would like to speak. He says:
“I have very strong feelings on the matter, but in the interests of fairness and not wishing to prejudice what I am sure will be a very thorough inquiry by the FA, this will be my last comment on the subject until the inquiry is concluded.”
And that’s it.
As for facts, all we know is:
* Terry shouted: “Oi, Anton, did you think I called you a black c***?”
* Terry says this was an attempt to explain to the QPR defender that he had not racially abused him.
* Ferdinand has told the FA that he did not hear Terry’s alleged abuse at the time.
You can make what you will of the anomaly.
Posted: 1st, November 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (20) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Liverpool’s Steven Gerard Spotted Leaving On Tanzanian Bus
LIVERPOOL fans looking for Steven Gerrard have been looking in the wrong place. Forget the treatment room, Stevie G’s on the back on a Tanzanian bus…
Spotter: Chris at Pies
Posted: 31st, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
France Fined For Facing Down Kiwi Sportsmanship: Everton Do The Z Cars Dance
THE Rugby World Cup was long and dull stuff. Who wouldn’t rather have watched the dwarf tossing? One highlight, so we are told, was the New Zealand haka, a spectacle that has all the excitement of tourists on a Spanish costa watching a pre-dinner flamenco show, albeit without any chance of audience participation or fun. The rival team are only allowed to sit and gaze in wide-eyed appreciation as the other team makes goggle-eyed promises to gut you or slit your throat.
The French team have been fined €2,875 for advancing on the New Zealand haka before Sunday’s World Cup final. The French decided that before their biggest match of the players’ lives they should stir their own blood by forming themselves into an arrowhead and not just sit and appreciate the fact that their toils had earned them the best seat in the house.
Anorak would have preferred it had the French done something a bit more French, like retreating behind their own lines before half of them join the Kiwi side, playing boules or setting up some trestle tables and chairs and hosting a fantastic cheese and wine party.
Such is the wonder of the haka that it’s odd that football has not adopted the unbridled gamesmanship. As Everton come out to the theme from Z Cars, the opposition must not make a single noise for fear of causing offence to those raised on the tune. Now, if David Moyes and the lads can just make a dance up…
Posted: 31st, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Chelsea’s John Terry Is Innocent: Daily Mail And Stan Collymore See what They Want To See On YouTube
DON’T we all hope that Chelsea captain John Terry is innocent of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand? Racism is a issue bigger than football’s tribalism. Other than a YouTube video we’ve seen no further evidence to support the case for Terry’s guilt.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has defended his captain. Better, perhaps, had the excitable Portuguese manager left the FA to conduct their inquires, as QPR’s Neil Warnock has, and backed his man in private. Villas-Boas opined:
“All of the players have been quiet about it because we know what happened. Nothing happened, so there is nothing to discuss.”
Posted: 31st, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (10) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The Hollow John Terry Racism Debate: After Cantona and Kitson, The Chelsea Captain Matters
IAN Holloway, the likeable Blackpool manager, wants to share this thoughts on the accusation that Chelsea captain John Terry racially abused QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. He writes in the Independent:
I can’t sit here and claim I’ve never made a comment that I shouldn’t have on a football pitch. In the heat of a game, especially when things are going against you and you’re frustrated, you tend to say things that you shouldn’t.
For sure. Anyone who has played competitive sport at any levels would not like their muttering aired in the full glare of a media feeding frenzy.
I remember one training session at Bristol Rovers where I slaughtered a Welsh and a Scottish lad because they were winding me up. I was shouting all sorts of horrible things to try and provoke a response and I was bang out of the order.
Is it racism when an Englishman abuses someone from Scotland or Wales? Arsene Wenger says racism is being called a a paedo.
Former Reading striker Dave Kitson said racism was ginger:
“We talk about kicking racism out of sport but this is just as bad in its way.”
The Daily Star reacted to that with the headline “Kitson’s a right ginger whinger”.
The players’ association chief Gordon Taylor said, rightly:
“It belittles racism to compare the two issues.”
Posted: 30th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand Blasts John Terry? Daily Mail Guns For Chelsea Captain
THE Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday continue their pursuit of Chelsea’s John Terry, part of a vengeful media looking to get their own back on aman who, allegedly, tried to silence them with a super-injunction. The lead back page story screams:
RIO: I BELIEVE IT WAS RACIST
Well, John Terry has admitted to using the words “fu**ing black c**t” in the vicinity of QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, Rio’s younger brother. The Chelsea and England captain claims there was no racial intent. Terry maintains his innocence.
Posted: 29th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Arsenal Put Five Past Chelsea: Wenger Exposes Villa-Boas’ Failings: Photos
ARSENAL beat Chelsea 5-3 and all is right in Arsene Wenger’s wonderland. The question is this: which manager would you rather have: Wenger or Andre Villas-Boas?
After the match the manager’s spoke:
Andre Villas-Boas:
”Has the situation affected John? No, not at all. It hasn’t distracted him at all, I don’t think. For me, it was never a situation. It’s a misunderstanding. This is just defeat for a team, a very important defeat and nothing else. The decisive moment might have been when Mata was free on goal and misses the chance to go 4-3 ahead. We’ve seen some great open games recently between the top teams and this is one more. We will have to reflect on the mistakes we made and there are a couple of things we can improve, but the commitment and desire is there. We must evolve. It’s a loss against a big team picking up form. It’s two defeats in a row and we have to get things right.”
Posted: 29th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
John Terry Racism Row: Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas And Arsenal’s Wenger Are Badly Wrong
JOHN Terry Racism Saga: Did Chelsea captain John Terry racially abuse QPR’s Anton Ferdinand? We do not know. Terry says his words have been taken out of context and misunderstood. But the allegation is enough to sully Terry’s name:
The Mail leads with news that Sky has handed “unseen footage” to the FA.
The word “unseen” suggests that there is something worth seeing. But we don’t know if there is. All we know is that Sky has delivered footage from its 20 cameras to the FA to view.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manger, sheds few a words on the matter:
“It came to me, how much credit can you give to something that is said on the pitch in a passionate situation? How deep do you read into it? If you have played football, you have said something to your friends; sometimes that they are an idiot – but you do not really think he’s an idiot. And that’s what I mean, in a passionate situation inside the game doesn’t mean that you can say anything. But you are not always politically correct on the pitch.”
Wenger is wrong. This is not about political correctness. This about racial abuse. The words “black c**t” are not taken lightly, but backed by 400 years of racial abuse against blacks. If political correctness means it unacceptable to racilly abuse a man in public, then we’re all for it.
“The debate is: Do you want every player to be followed by a camera? And analyse completely what he said after the game? That’s what we should do?”
Posted: 29th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (7) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
TO Northampton University, where the 2012 Olympic Torch has been unveiled. By the time the torch reaches Stratford, it will have lit 3,432 spiffs, 456 bar-b-cues and 7 braziers on London Underground picket lines. Welcome to the UK, peoples of the world…
Posted: 28th, October 2011 | In: London Olympics | Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Does Masturbation Lie At The Root Of Ronaldo’s 1998 World Cup Mystery?
FORMER Brazil, Inter Milan, PSV, Barcelona and Real Madrid player Ronaldo says that the pre-mtch warm should not include masturbation. As he tells Mundo Deportivo:
“It’s not true that sex is detrimental to performance on the pitch. No one can prove that. Masturbation is far more tiring.”
Might this explain what happened to him before that World Cup Final in Paris?
Posted: 28th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Fifa Awards World Cup TV Rights To Sepp Blatter’s Nephew Joseph Blatter
FIFA have appointed Infront Sports and Media as the organisation’s “exclusive sales representative for the distribution of Asian broadcast rights” for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Phew! Those negotiations were surely painstaking. And then there must have been a lengthy tendering process.
Niclas Ericson, FIFA’s director of TV, assures us:
“Infront offered the best package for this important and very complex project both in financial as well as marketing aspects. We believe that the team will deliver the best possible results for FIFA and help us achieve our distribution and financial objectives in Asia.”
Posted: 28th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The BBC Turns Leeds United’s Simon Grayson Into A Joke
LEEDS United manager Simon Grayson will not be used to illustrate how irony is dead in the age of the internet and soundbites.Context is all.
The BBC reports:
Leeds United manager Simon Grayson has also denied being interested in taking charge at the King Power Stadium.
He said: “I was a legend down there. It’s a club that’s very close to my heart but this club is far closer to my heart. I’ve had an affiliation with Leicester in the past, but my sole aim is to do well for Leeds. I’m totally focused on Leeds and that focus has never dwindled during my time at the club. ’m delighted things are going well here and I want to continue doing the job I’ve set out to do.”
Posted: 27th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Why Is The Daily Mail In A Rush To Find Chelsea’s John Terry Guilty Of (Alleged) Racism?
JOHN Terry (Chelsea and England) V The Media and, apparently, QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. How a newspaper story works:
Daily Mail – October 27, 2011:
John Terry will be confronted by evidence from three QPR players who have backed Anton Ferdinand in the FA’s race row inquiry. Sportsmail understands that Clint Hill, Paddy Kenny and Shaun Derry have provided statements that point to a serious flaw in Terry’s version of events at Loftus Road on Sunday.
Ferdinand was baffled by the statement the England and Chelsea captain issued on Sunday night, particularly his claim that YouTube footage showed him responding to an accusation from Ferdinand that Terry had just called him ‘a black ****’.
Kenny, Derry and Hill — an active players’ union representative — question whether any such exchange took place, given that Ferdinand had no knowledge of a racial element to what was said until after the game.
Posted: 27th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (6) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Chelsea’s John Terry Is Being Tried By A Vengeful Media That Excuses Racism
JOHN Terry, the Chelsea captain, must be presumed innocent of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. Terry says it was a misunderstanding that he came to mouth the words “fu***ng black c**t” on camera. The football pundits make their feelings known, presenting Terry’s latest problem in the context of past misunderstandings. Only, none of the items on Terry’s list of alleged inappropriate behaviour features racism.
Terry is looking like a victim of his reputation, rather then the facts.
Terry says he is proud to be captain of a racially mixed team. He has worn an armband demanding that racism be kicked out of football. But neither point is relevant. Terry would no more refuse to play with a black man then he would openly join the BNP. Terry just upholds the current culture of football that means overt racism is universally unaccepted.
This is not to say that racism does not exist in football. It is just that racism does not exist in polite society. Britain is a country where difference is embraced and tolerated. Thank god. But around the dinner party table, racism is there. In private, racism is there. Any minority knows that they are held to standards to which white, Christian Britons could never aspire. When Tam Dalyell MP said that Tony Blair was “unduly influenced by a cabal of Jewish advisers“, British Jews winced. Here was an old canard about those clever Jews – and to Jews, being called clever can be taken as a slight, a conniving glance to when Jews were presented as demonic and wily. When a wanted criminal is revealed as black, all blacks take a sharp intake of breath.
Posted: 27th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
BBC Says Aldershot Are Aldershit
HOW bad were Aldershot in their Carling Cup match against Manchester United. Well, they lot 3-0. But the BBC’s Phil Dawkes surely went overboard by calling them Aldershit?
Posted: 26th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Tesco Offers Post-Thrashing Discount On Manchester United Cake: Man City’s Still Expensive
CHRIS Wright over at Pies spots that Tesco’s are offering a post-thrashing discount on Manchester United cakes. United’s doughnut-munching goalkeeper De Gea might be interested…
Posted: 26th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Daily Mail Says Racism Is No Big Deal: Black Footballers Should Complain About More Important Things
THE Daily Mail’s Steve Doughty will now offer his views on John Terry, Anton Ferdinand and all that alleged racism:
“Things may not be perfect but, at the end of the day, Gary, there are worse things to complain about. So, Mr Evra and Mr Ferdinand, I know you feel insulted. But perhaps in this case you could just put up with it and get on with the game.”
Now, had Terry said “Oi! Did you say Gaddafi deserved to die, you knobhead” or “Oi! Did you say I was a f*****g c*** like Steve Doughty” then those black footballers would have real grounds to complain…
Posted: 26th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen Is Both Injured And Uninjured In The Times And Daily Mail
ARSENAL look to have turned the corner. But the Daily Mail sees only bad news, as is its wont. Sami Mokbel writes:
Thomas Vermaelen’s long-awaited return to action turned sour on Tuesday night after he was involved in another injury scare. The Belgium defender limped off in the 84th minute of the Carling Cup fourth-round win over Bolton with calf trouble.
Or as The Times’ Gary Jacob puts it:
“Vermaelen put himself firmly in to contention against Chelsea on Saturday when he came through unscathed on his return.”
The Times then reads the Mail’s report and changes the story online to read:
Arsenal 2 Bolton 1: Thomas Vermaelen blow mars Arsène Wenger’s night
Posted: 26th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comments (3) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Is Chelsea’s John Terry A Teflon-Coated Odious Chancer Or The Misunderstood Hero?
IS John Terry, the hard-to-like Chelsea and England captain, a racist?
Footage shows Terry mouthing the words “black c**t” and “fu*king knobhead“ during his side’s defeat to QPR.
The allegation is that he directed the words towards Anton Ferdinand, the QPR defender who is of mixed-race.
The video does not show all of Terry’s sentence. The opening part is obscured by Ashley Cole’s head. Terry says his sentence began with the words: “Oi! I never said…”
Terry says he uttered the words without racist intent. Says Terry:
“I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him. I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term.
The story makes the front page of the Sun.
“COPS IN TERRY RACIST PROBE”
Posted: 26th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Manchester City Fan Teaches Budgie To Praise Team: Video
TO Manchester, where Cheeksey the budgies can say “‘Come on City” and “Roberto Mancini”.
Says his pal Jeremy Sutcliffe:
“He’s quite a character. I’m now going to teach him how to say Sergio Aguero.”
Posted: 25th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Occupy Sven Goran Eriksson: Swede Earns Big For Failure at Leicester City
SVEN Goran Eriksson is back on the market. The man whose legacy is a former lover on Strictly Come Dancing has bene sacked by Leicester City. Failure secures him a £1million golden handshake.
Previously, Sven has profited from:
England: S en gets a £3m payoff for leaving his post two years early
Manchester City: Svens gets £2.1 after Thaksin Shinawatra sacks him
Mexico: Sven banks £2million after being dismissed
Posted: 25th, October 2011 | In: Sports | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Chelsea’s John Terry Says He Is The Real Victim Of QPR Abuse: Anton Ferdinand Might Wonder
DID England and Chelsea captain John Terry racially abuse QPR defender Anton Ferdinand? Coming after the allegation that Liverpool’s Suarez called Manchester United’s Evra a nigger, this looks like more bad news for football (Suarez denies the charge.).
The allegation is that Terry called Ferdinand a black c**t.
Terry’s explanation is that the conversation went like this:
Ferdinand: “Did you just call me a f***ing black c***?”
Terry: “Oi! I never said f***ing black c*** you f***ing knobhead.”
Terry issues a statement:
“I’ve seen that there’s a lot of comments on the internet with regards to some video footage of me in today’s game. I’m disappointed that people have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying to Anton Ferdinand. I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him. I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term. I would never say such a thing, and I’m saddened that people would think so. I have known Anton for a long time and spoke to him about it after the game, and there was no problem between us. I congratulated him on their win. He has not accused me of any wrongful remark. It was clear it was all a misunderstanding at the time. After the result, I am saddened to be dealing with these wrongful allegations. I am the proud captain of one of the most internationally diverse teams in the Premier League and I absolutely believe that there is no place for racism in sport and indeed in any walk of life.”
Context is important. In this age of the internet, where words can be taken out of context and played with – where political discourse is reduced as the players dare not use irony – words can take on new meanings.
Posted: 25th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Sports | Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0