Football Racism: it happens to women too
- Beth Pritchard
- Jan 16, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 23, 2020
Yesterday Eniola Aluko, Ex-England and Chelsea striker announced her retirement, resurfacing the discussion of racism in women’s football.
Racism is often talked about surrounding the men’s game, with players often suffering racial abuse on the pitch, but it is rarely talked about when it comes to women’s football.
Just two cases of racism towards female footballers have made it to the mainstream news.
Aluko, who spent her final 18 months playing Serie A side, Juventus, made the headlines in 2016. She accused the then-England Women manager, Mark Sampson of making ‘jokes’ about her Nigerian family having Ebola. She also reported him belittling her in front of her teammates despite her senior position amongst the players.
When she came forward to complain about the boss, she was met with disbelief from the Football Association (FA) and was dropped from the England squad by Sampson after making 103 appearances.
The FA finally apologised in 2017 after Sampson was found guilty of making these remarks. The manager was also sacked that year. However, it was not due to his racist comments, but a safeguarding issue when he was working with Bristol City Women.
The other case of racial abuse to make the headlines came in January 2019. Renee Hector, Tottenham defender, suffered from the first recorded - but not necessarily first to happen - racial abuse. Sheffield United's Sophie Jones was subsequently banned for five games and had her contract terminated with the Blades following ‘monkey noises’.
The harassment did not stop there for Hector. She received hurtful messages online after the event and ‘sank into deep depression’. She spoke of how semi-professional players aren’t offered the psychological support that Women’s Super League players are.
So what can be done to improve the situation? This opens up a whole different topic of conversation.
Have your say
How would you like to see racist fans punished? Leave a comment!
More to follow.
(Feature image: Michael Regan/Getty Image)
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