The Waning Respect for the Game
As the World Cup Qualifiers jump back into action this week, we begin the year-long road towards next winter’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, and others have already stamped their name on this round of qualifiers with tantalizing goals that remind us why we love this competition so much. Sometimes, too much.
Over the summer, after a beautiful run, the Italians captured the EURO championship on a final save from PSG summer signing, Gianluigi Donnarumma. The English were left in shambles. The British had come woefully close to their first major championship in 55 years. Yet, what followed wasn’t a storyline about Italy’s adept skill throughout their tournament or the painstaking denial of glory for the Three Lions. Instead, what followed was a clash between progress and the much darker side of football: blatant racism.
Bukayo Saka, Jaden Sancho, and Marcus Rashford, the three players who missed in the penalty shootout, endured weeks of racist messages, comments, and harassment online. Most of the soccer world condemned acts of racism. There were reports of arrests in the United Kingdom for those tracked down and charged for their role in online harassment. In addition, the football world attempted to make an example of a situation, pressing the fanbase to move forward and hold their compatriots accountable for these bigotries.
