Racism continues to be an issue the soccer world, and apparently at Fenway Park, but it is one soccer player who took a stand against it that will be serving some suspension time. Sulley Muntari of Serie A club Pescara has been suspended one game after walking off the pitch to protest verbal abuse hurled his way during a match on Sunday.
The reason the suspension will not be lifted? “Not enough fans took part in the abuse to trigger action,” according to a report from the BBC. According to the report from BBC, a total of 10 fans were connected to the racist abuse directed at the midfielder from Ghana.
How many fans are required to raise the stakes high enough to warrant a protest? Isn’t just one fan being a complete jerk more than enough? Was the ruling being upheld by a racist in the federation’s headquarters?
Italian federation headed by a man banned by UEFA for 6 months for racism in his presidential campaign …
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) May 2, 2017
Muntari was given a yellow card after asking a referee to stop a match after claiming to be verbally abused by fans. When the match was not paused to address the situation, Muntari walked off the field and was given a second yellow card, leading to an ejection from the match. Approaching the referee was not out of bounds, according to a statement from the players’ union.
“Muntari was well within his rights to approach the referee,” said a Fifpro statement. “Players should feel comfortable bringing any issue to the attention of the referee, especially one as significant as allegations of racism in the workplace.”
The union has asked for Muntari’s punishment to be rescinded, but that is not likely to happen as he received two yellow cards to result in the ejection.
[BBC]
