Racism continues to be an ugly blemish on the beautiful game, especially in Europe. A group of Chelsea fans proved this yet again in Paris on Tuesday night.
After Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 matchup, amateur video caught a group of Chelsea supporters blocking a black man from entering a Paris metro train. It got worse from there.
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The 57-second video obtained by The Guardian embedded below, shows fans physically pushing the man out of the train. Some of those fans then begin in a chant: "We're racist! We're racist! And that's the way we like it! We like it! We like it!"
So what happens from here? One would hope Chelsea could somehow identify the perpetrating fans and make a powerful public statement by disowning them with a lifetime ban from Stamford Bridge, the club's home ground.
That seems unlikely, however, if for no other reason that the practicality of doing so. Disgusted observers will probably have to settle for being thankful that someone caught the episode on camera to continue shining light on an ongoing problem in the soccer world.
The episode also sparked this cogent string of tweets form Musa Okwonga, a poet and soccer writer:
Hm. Many people who will express revulsion at that racist football fan video are just as unpleasant in far subtler and more dangerous ways.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
Extreme, overt, drunken racism by fans is only the symptom of attitudes that may be more commonplace that people would like to admit.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
The outraged condemnation of drunken racist football fans, without further examination of the underlying issues, is nothing but cathartic.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
The average racist these days is far, far smarter than a football fan on an away day who gets hammered and abuses a random black person.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
The drunken racist football fan on the evening train is the least dangerous racist of all since you know exactly where you stand with them.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
The most dangerous racists of all are those who will keep you conveniently at arm's length for years. They are the ones I worry about.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
As someone who has experienced both verbal and physical racist abuse on the street, I am not belittling what happened tonight.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
I am merely saying: let us be clear. Racism does not simply arise from nowhere. It is mould that has been allowed to fester too long.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
So no, I'm not going to get on my high horse about the drunken racist fans, and I would advise you to be very very wary of anyone who does.— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) February 17, 2015
No high horse needed, but those fans shouldn't simply go ignored either.