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Contents
Editor’s Comment
•
3
Insight
2
• Sportscover success used as case study
by UK Trade and Investment
8
• Depression in sport
9
• UEFA 2012 transport fears
10
• Lessons from across the pond
11
• Top 10 sport superstitions
15
• World Squash Day hailed success
Feature Articles
4
• Underwater adventures in South Africa
12
• Spotlight on Sport: Car Spinning
16
• The clouds of corruption hanging over
South African sport
22
• South African schools @lantic 7’s series
a huge success
Interview
14
• Madeleine Hogan - Australian
Paralympic Athlete.
Risk Management Focus
24
• Golf course risk management - Finding
the problem before it finds you
Through Legal Eyes
20
• Relaxing dangerously
Update
7
• Contact with hard surfaces still an issue for
Queensland Gymnastic clubs
6
•
On Track
18
•
World Sports News Roundup
26
•
Sports Shorts
Cover:
Madeleine Hogan
Supplied by
StarAmpGlobal.com.au
3
Steve Boucher
touchline@sportscover.com
touchline
The journal of spor t, leisure & r isk with an international perspective
Issue 11
Just when we thought that the ugly spectre of
racism in sport had been banished for good, a
spate of allegations and ill judged comments
have again brought it to the fore.
Luis Suarez, Liverpool FC’s Uruguayan
forward is serving an eight-game suspension
for repeatedly racially abusing Patrice Evra
during a match and has been criticised for
failing to apologise to the Manchester United
defender. At the same time, Chelsea and
England captain John Terry has vowed to fight
“tooth and nail” to clear his name after the UK
Crown Prosecution Service announced that
he will face criminal charges for his alleged
racist abuse of QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.
These incidents are bad enough, but to
add insult to injury the players’ clubs have
widely been considered as not doing enough
to distance themselves from their players’
behaviour.
Lord Ouseley, chairman of the anti-racism
group ‘Kick It Out’, and a member of the
FA Council, declared himself “saddened”
by Chelsea’s “blanket support” for Terry
which has been offered without “a thorough
investigation” by his employer. Similarly, after
facing weeks of criticism, including wearing
shirts with Suarez’s image on them in support
of their player, Liverpool manager Kenny
Dalglish has issued a statement on the club
website to say that the Reds “don’t want
racism anywhere near football.”
Liverpool’s attempts to move on from the
Suarez case have been hampered by another
racism investigation involving the club when
Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi was reduced
to tears by insults from Liverpool fans at
Anfield in the FA Cup and had to be comforted
by teammates and opposing players.
Several major stories about racism in one
sport in a week is not only worrying; it’s
unacceptable. In the midst of all of this, FIFA
president Sepp Blatter has come under fire
after denying that football has a problem with
racism on the field – and any incidents that
do occur should be settled with a handshake
at the end of the game. Asked whether he
thought racism on the pitch was a problem,
Blatter told CNN World Sport: ‘I would deny
it. There is no racism.’
The president of world football’s governing
body later said his comments had been
misunderstood.
Unfortunately, incidents of racial abuse are
not confined to football. Tiger Woods’ ex-
caddie, Steve Williams, allegedly used a
racial slur to describe his former boss after he
was fired. In the NHL, Wayne Simmonds had
a banana thrown at him during a pre-season
game in September.
These are only some of the incidents that
take place – many go unreported and
unrecorded.
Whilst Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish
insisted that it is “utterly rubbish” to suggest
that defending Suarez against racism
accusations showed the club is not interested
in fighting racism, the problem is that unless
we are seen to be unequivocally against any
form of racism, there is always a possibility
that we may be seen as condoning it.
Racism is a serious and terrible thing and
must be eradicated.
Sportspeople are role models. Children look
up to the stars of the team they support
and will emulate their actions. They want to
be like them. It is therefore vitally important
that these stars and all of the officials in
all sporting disciplines display intolerance
towards racism.
If thismeans lengthy bans for the perpetrators,
so be it.
Suarez’s eight game ban is a good start.
Other deterrent measures should include
cancellation of contracts by Sponsors to show
their support for eliminating this unacceptable
conduct. Other sports must follow suit. We
must all show that racism in sport or in any
other area of life will not be tolerated.
No place for racism