Exclusive: “It means nothing” – Collymore slams the Premier League in the wake of punishment for Spanish racists

There doesn’t appear to be a week that goes by without people on social media racially abusing Premier League players and others.

As unpalatable as it is to say it, it’s almost become the norm. Expected.

Why?

Thus far, the powers that be in the English game and the authorities that have the power to exert a deterrent upon those that have engaged in such disgusting behaviour, have left much to be desired.

Whilst it’s no excuse, with no proper punishment to speak of it’s no wonder that people feel that they can get away with just a rap on the knuckles for want of a better term.

It’s a stain on the game and society across the world and it has to be stopped, and that begins by sending out a message that the authorities just won’t stand for it any longer.

Collymore slams Premier League for racism stance

Some Valencia supporters who seemed to delight in racially abusing Real Madrid’s Vini Jr. will almost certainly be thinking about their life choices this morning, after being banned from football grounds by the Spanish Federation, and thrown into jail for eight months.

There’s some certainty to all three treading very carefully in future.

Former professional, Stan Collymore, thinks the Spanish have got things spot on, but he has slammed their Premier League counterparts.

“On Twitter, I remember the Premier League asking everyone to put black squares on their bio to show solidarity with their campaign against racism. It means nothing. Well respected broadcasters and journalists not tweeting for 24 hours with a black square. Oh, great. That’s gonna stop a racist from from being a racist,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.

“I remember getting emails from the Premier League saying ‘I see you’re very critical of our stance on racism,’ and then being bombarded with a pie chart with how much interaction they had. It doesn’t work until the deterrent stops people from doing it.

“I know what it’s like to be racially abused on social media, in a football environment from football fans who then get punished. One of them was a trainee lawyer at the time, one was a 15-year-old boy that told his parents and broke down crying and one was a Derby fan.

“They were all taken to court, one had to wear a tag, one was fined and the other had to pay something like £100 in victim surcharge, money that they may not have had at that time. So from my perspective, it’s really simple.

“If you take the next step and even give racists just a week in jail, it will make a difference. Nobody wants to go to jail. Anybody, pretty much most people, can pay a £50 fine and then become the guy that abused [insert black player here].

“So, absolutely fantastic from the Spanish authorities. The punishment for those who racially abused Vini Jr. is 10 times more important than what the English authorities would do about it, because we have a background of virtue signalling in this country.

“You look back when England played in Seville many moons ago and there was blackface etc., and I think that Spain has had a problem with acknowledging it. So this is big. It’s saying, you go to a football match and you start doing this, you’re gonna get a proper punishment.

“Eastern Europe, which has a problem in football traditionally with racially abusing players, need to do the same and if we do, we then have serious tools to be able to eradicate it from the grounds.

“Well done the Spanish Federation, well done the Spanish judicial system. England – time to follow.”

With prisons already overcrowded in this country, there’s sure to be an excuse that there simply isn’t room to throw those found guilty of racist abuse into jail.

However, something clearly needs to change at the top level of the game or else one can only conclude that the Premier League are also an organisation that are unconsciously racist.