Richard Scudamore believes recent high-profile racism cases in English soccer haven’t hurt the game. Rather it shows the country’s determination to eliminate racism from the sport and society, according to the Associated Press.
“When it comes to the racism issue there is zero tolerance,” Scudamore said. “We as a sport have led the line and continue to lead the line, there’s no room for it.
“I am absolutely confident that English football’s record of dealing with this issue is good. I am proud that we are in a country that can deal with it, has dealt with it and got the reaction it has, which is far better than what goes on in many other countries where it would not have got any column inches.”
England captain John Terry and Liverpool’s star forward Luis Suarez have been punished for on-field incidents in recent months. Terry allegedly made a race-based insult to QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during an October game. His case has been turned over to police, as a possible public-order offense. Suarez is currently serving an eight-game ban for his alleged racist abuse of Manchester United’s Patrice Evra on Oct. 15.
Scudamore believes such incidents would probably go unnoticed in leagues in many other countries. He also promises that English soccer will not relax on the issue going forward.
“Nobody’s complacent, there’s always work to be done (on combatting racism),” he added. “If there’s more we can do then fine.”
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Thumbnail photo via Flickr/Soccerex
