Sulley Muntari, the 32 year old Ghanaian midfielder plays for Pescara in Italy's Series A. On 30 April 2017, Pescara visited Cagliari. The score ended 1-0 in favor of the home team, but the interesting aspect of this particular game was the incident that occurred towards the end of the match. Sulley Muntari heard fans chant racial slurs that were directed towards him. Muntari went up to the referee to let him know what he had heard. In Italy, due to the level of visible racism in the soccer stadiums the league has intended to combat this by implementing procedures to eradicate this buffoonery. The first step is that the referee states a warning over the stadium's speaker system. If the racist chants have not stopped the match is stopped. If needed the match can be abandoned. On Sunday none of these counter measurements were implemented by Daniele Minelli, the center referee for the match. Muntari was booked for complaining to the referee about what he heard. Muntari ended up walking of the pitch before disappearing into the players tunnel he looked into the stands slapping his forearm with his opposite hand to indicate that This is me, This is my color. For his humanistic response to such vile abuse Muntari was shown a second yellow card, therefore receiving a red for walking off the pitch without permission. Indicating that he will be suspended for the next game. Daniele Minelli, "the altruist", thought it would be fitting to have Muntari suspended and to sit out the next game in order to avoid being racially abuse for a second consecutive week. As of today at this time the Series A disciplinary committee has overturned Muntari's suspension. That same committee cannot punish the fans or the home team due to it's own rules, only 10 people were involved and therefore not reaching the minimum 1% of the fans needed to be racist in the stadium in order to act on a disciplinary action.
Without missing a beat, the day after, across the pond where baseball is played, in the civil rights proud ground breaking the color barrier America's historical past time, descended into the twilight zone. The Boston Red Sox hosted the Baltimore Orioles. Adam Jones, Baltimore's center fielder, witnessed fans shouting racial slurs and targeted by a peanut tosser. The next day Adam Jones was given a standing ovation by the Boston crowd during his first at bat. The Red Sox's front office came out in defense and support for Adam Jones and condemned anyone who used racial slurs in Fenway park, threatening that they will be banned for life (Which they stood by, a few fans have been band). I believe that the Red Sox organization handled the situation as best as possible. The troubling aspect of this was not the Red Sox organization or the league, but what one former baseball analyst said. Curt Schilling said that Adam Jones created a situation. That he needed proof in order to believe that Jones was being targeted with racial abuse. Schilling's defended his outrageous claim by citing that he has heard his black teammates use the N-word 100 million times and went on twitter to some how demonstrate proof that based on the artist and music a person listen's to is an indicator of what should or shouldn't be offensive to them.
The troubling aspect in these two similar events isn't the big leagues or the front office of the teams, however, I do believe the Italian FA did act in a molasses manner towards a situation that should have been resolved the next day. What is worrisome is the individuals with certain power and authority are yielding towards inaction rather than any action. As I mentioned before the the leagues and front office of the teams did their part in a swift, respectful and not over reaching manner. No one was unfairly punished. Muntari had his suspension over turned and the Red Sox organization warned their fans or any other visitor about their zero tolerance racial abuse policy (and kept true to their threat). So what astonishes me the most is that men like Curt Schilling demand proof for such horrendous acts. Why? As a self-proclaimed person of science I believe that facts should be observed and results questioned and analyzed. But, in this situation what is the purpose of questioning and demanding proof from Adam Jones? To call him a liar and diva seeking attention because racism doesn't exist in sports and in particularly baseball? I am curious to why then stadiums across the United States honor the number 42. As for the Italian referee, Daniele Minelli, what if Muntari was lying? Would announcing over the stadium's speaker system to remind the fans that racism has no place in the soccer world cause such a PR uproar? Minells's inaction and Schilling's support for inaction unless someone personally provides proof to him directly is an indication that there is plenty of work needed to be done to combat racism in sports and in our communities. There have been great strides across the global sporting community to eliminate those with racist mentalities from barring into stadiums to spew their filth onto others. Yet, we need to vigilante amongst our own sporting communities that particular individuals are not fueling racism with inaction and denial.
The troubling aspect in these two similar events isn't the big leagues or the front office of the teams, however, I do believe the Italian FA did act in a molasses manner towards a situation that should have been resolved the next day. What is worrisome is the individuals with certain power and authority are yielding towards inaction rather than any action. As I mentioned before the the leagues and front office of the teams did their part in a swift, respectful and not over reaching manner. No one was unfairly punished. Muntari had his suspension over turned and the Red Sox organization warned their fans or any other visitor about their zero tolerance racial abuse policy (and kept true to their threat). So what astonishes me the most is that men like Curt Schilling demand proof for such horrendous acts. Why? As a self-proclaimed person of science I believe that facts should be observed and results questioned and analyzed. But, in this situation what is the purpose of questioning and demanding proof from Adam Jones? To call him a liar and diva seeking attention because racism doesn't exist in sports and in particularly baseball? I am curious to why then stadiums across the United States honor the number 42. As for the Italian referee, Daniele Minelli, what if Muntari was lying? Would announcing over the stadium's speaker system to remind the fans that racism has no place in the soccer world cause such a PR uproar? Minells's inaction and Schilling's support for inaction unless someone personally provides proof to him directly is an indication that there is plenty of work needed to be done to combat racism in sports and in our communities. There have been great strides across the global sporting community to eliminate those with racist mentalities from barring into stadiums to spew their filth onto others. Yet, we need to vigilante amongst our own sporting communities that particular individuals are not fueling racism with inaction and denial.
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