Stan Collymore has never been backwards in coming forwards with an honest and forthright opinion, and on this occasion, he’s taken aim at the Premier League.
Though the race riots that have dogged the UK over the past week or so would appear to have nothing to do with football, there’s a school of thought which says that football hooligans could join in the troubles for their own ends.
Such a scenario would only add another level of chaos to an already unsavoury series of flashpoints across the country, and Collymore believes that the Premier League’s silence over the issue speaks volumes.
“I think that the Premier League have a massive responsibility as a big British brand, and as a big British brand that’s inclusive with all creeds, all flavours and all genders, to comment on the current riots from a football perspective,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“After all, they can’t wait to tell you about No Room for Racism day.
“I would really have liked to see Richard Masters come out after last weekend and say “any supporter involved in these in this disorder, will never set foot in an English football stadium again,” and that would have done as much as potentially the deterrent effect of a six month or a 12 month custodial sentence for some of them.
“Frankly, I’m disgusted by the Premier League.If you remember, when players were getting racist abuse a while back, the Premier League were quick to tell everyone to put a the black square on their social media profiles and not tweet or post for 24 hours.
“The fact they’ve said nothing whatsoever during the current riots, I would suggest, is 1000 times worse. The fact that I genuinely feel like the only voice in the professional football sports broadcasting space that was willing to call it out, hour by hour, and to show people that there were good people in Walthamstow, in Birmingham, in Newcastle and elsewhere that weren’t going to allow this race baiting to happen… I think it’s frankly disgusting and disturbing.
“Football is multicultural, and not just the fan base.
“We’ve got Muslims, we’ve got Jews, we’ve got blacks, we’ve got whites, we’ve got French, we’ve got Germans, we’ve got Italians, we’ve got Egyptians… all playing in the Premier League.
“I get that a lot of players and clubs will be very reluctant to speak up because they don’t understand the politics, but for me, football needs to do much, much more.”
Collymore arguably has a point on more than one area.
It’s all very well the Premier League paying lip service to certain campaigns when it suits them, but when they’re really needed to stand up and be counted, the lily-livered executives are nowhere to be seen.
The multicultural aspect of Premier League football can’t be overlooked either.
Those muslim players that are currently plying their trade in England’s top-flight must be looking on in absolute despair at what’s happening around the country at present, and will look to the governing body to take a stand and effectively guarantee their safety.
Time for the Premier League to wake up and smell the coffee.
The post Exclusive: “Disgusting” – Collymore slams the Premier League over race riot silence appeared first on CaughtOffside.
