World football is far from getting rid of racism though it seemed like it had been wiped out completely. Recent issues confronting the game, with the latest being the shameful fracas between England and Serbian, say it all.
Tuesday's racist incident happened even when memories of Luis Suarez and John Terry, who were banned by several matches for racially abusing their counterpart, are fresh in people's minds.
England qualified for the 2013 European Under-21 Championship with a 1-0 victory over Serbia at Krusevac on Tuesday, but it was marred by racial chants and scuffle between the fans, players and even coaches.
England players faced racism throughout the game with monkey chants being heard from the audience targeting black players from England. Defender Danny Rose said that stones were pelted and racial abuse was hurled at them. He was shown the red card after the final whistle for kicking the ball to the crowd out of anger.
Interestingly, the Serbian FA said that there was no racial abuse during Tuesday's match and blamed Danny Rose for the brawl, alleging that his gesture to the crowd caused the untoward scene.
Meanwhile, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has charged both the English FA and the Serbian FA for the ugly scene on Tuesday.
Alex Horne, General Secretary, FA, had earlier sent out a warning to the offenders: "No football team should be asked to play in any environment where racial abuse, violence and threatening behaviour is prevalent. We must question the validity of sending a team to Serbia in the future. We call on UEFA to take the strongest possible action against the Serbian FA, their supporters and anyone found guilty of being involved in the numerous instances of violence and abuse," The Sun quoted him as saying.
"I was slapped twice. That's when I kicked the ball - and the ref sent me off. As I went off again there was monkey chanting, but that started long before. These fans have to be banned. Two stones hit me on the head and every time I touched the ball there was monkey chanting," Rose told The Sun.
It may be recalled that the FA sentenced Luis Suarez to an eight-month ban not long ago for racially abusing Patrice Evra in one of the matches. Former Chelsea captain John Terry was slapped with a four-match ban and a fine of £220,000 after being found guilty of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers' (QPR) Anton Ferdinand by an Independent Regulatory Commission of the Football Association (FA) last month.
