Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA, has finally broken his silence on the Black Lives Movement after weeks of scores of folks wondering what his position on racism on blacks was. Speaking in an exclusive interview, the football executive said that the association he leads had more to do to deal with the scourge of racism in the game.
He admitted that racism was still a big problem in football with fans flocking to stadiums to chant racist ideologies. Mr Ceferic said that UEFA was working closely with European governments to ensure that the deap-seated problem is stamped out.
“Racism — but not just racism; homophobia and sexism, too — are connected to society, and football is a reflection of that,” he said. “We are in the spotlight. We have a lot of fans, and many times people use football to show their idiotic ideology. I think UEFA is doing a lot, but like I said, slogans and punishments aren’t enough.
“We need to speak to governments and policymakers. We’ve had enough of politicians shouting at UEFA while their own countries are full of systemic racism. We have to unite more in this fight … We at UEFA don’t have police, prosecutors or judges to deal with this. We have to work with governments.”
Footballers in the English Premier League donned shirts bearing the black lives matter badge. This was in a bid to show solidarity with organisations fighting injustice against black people perpetrated in societies where the white are the majority.
