Racism in football and other sports

Alert DateFebruary 19, 2011 Country: Greece Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Afrophobia
General Type: Racist violence, Racist discourse Groups affected / Interested in: Migrants Strands: Racism Key Areas: Racist violence - Hate Speech Statistics

Timeline

  • 1st division foreign football players subjected to racist verbal attacks

    Alban Bushi, a Superliga Albanian football player (Kalamaria) was allegedly subjected to racist verbal attacks during the games he played in. According to media reports, his wife and relatives were mistreated or beaten when cheering the goals he made. During one match he reacted by spitting at an opponent player and by showing insulting gestures towards the bench of the Athens team Panathinaikos. He was fined to a sum of 40.160 € and three matches off, while the public prosecutor Mr.Kanellopoulos...

  • Racist slogans against French football player during a friendly match

    Djibril Cissé, a French football player of Panathinaikos, has experienced racist slogans on behalf of Olympiakos Volou football Club supporters during a friendly match between the two teams. Source: To Vima, 07.09.2009, http://www.tovima.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=5&artid=287104&dt=07/09/2009

  • Verbal threats and violent attacks against foreign football players

    On 19.02.2011, a highly charged Athens Derby on Saturday night between arch-rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, ended in scenes of players being attacked by fans and has led to calls for the Greek FA to take action against racism. Olympiakos fans charged onto the pitch at the final whistle as Panathinaikos players were attacked. About a dozen fans went after Djibril Cissé and three other players. The Frenchman later made it clear he will not tolerate racism. “I was their target. ...

Several 1st division foreign foorbal players were subjected to racist discourse and attacks during the period 2007-2011. Racism is expanding to other divisions and sports, as it was reported in a juniors handball match, in which fans verbally threatened two Albanian players and also entered the court to assault them.

On 15.04.2007, Alban Bushi, a Superliga Albanian football player (Kalamaria) was allegedly subjected to racist verbal attacks during the games he played in. According to media reports, his wife and relatives were mistreated or beaten when cheering the goals he made. During one match he reacted by spitting at an opponent player and by showing insulting gestures towards the bench of the Athens team Panathinaikos. He was fined to a sum of 40.160 € and three matches off, while the public prosecutor Mr.Kanellopoulos ordered an inquiry in order to assess whether he was residing in Greece illegally. The allegations on racist verbal attacks and beatings were never investigated.

Later that year (02.12.2007), during a football match at the Peristeri/Athens stadium, Lua Lua, an Olympiakos (Piraeus football club) was verbally threatened by fans of the local team.

On 07.09.2009, Djibril Cissé, a French football player of Panathinaikos, has experienced racist slogans on behalf of Olympiakos Volou football Club supporters during a friendly match between the two teams.

On 04.01.2011, Djibril Cissé was verbally threatened during a football match between Skoda Xanthi and Panathinaikos, where Skoda Xanthi's fans were pronouncing racist slogans against him.

On 19.02.2011, a highly charged Athens Derby on Saturday night between arch-rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, ended in scenes of players being attacked by fans and has led to calls for the Greek FA to take action against racism. Olympiakos fans charged onto the pitch at the final whistle as Panathinaikos players were attacked. About a dozen fans went after Djibril Cissé and three other players. The Frenchman later made it clear he will not tolerate racism. “I was their target. Some of them hit me and I retaliated to defend myself”, he said. “It’s a disgrace. I’m not going to let things lie. This season the atmosphere in the stands has got worse. Twice already, I have been the victim of monkey chants, of racist insults. It was the same thing again on Saturday night". “They managed to get inflatable bananas into the stadium that they were shaking around every time I touched the ball”.

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