Hall of shame: The times racism reared its ugly head in football

Back in 2013, CNN wrote: “Racism has been a stain on the soul of soccer for generations.” Unfortunately, over a decade later, the world’s most popular sport continues to be marred by racism, particularly against African and Asian players.

Last week, in an effort to fight back, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) – the body that controls the sport globally – said it had introduced a "crossed arms" gesture in football matches to stop racism in its tracks.

"By crossing their hands at the wrists, players will be able to signal directly to the referee that they are being targeted by racist abuse, prompting the referee to start the three-step procedure,” the football governing authority said in a statement.

“With the first step, the match will be stopped. If the abuse continues, the match will be suspended, with the players and match officials exiting the field of play. In the event the incident does not cease, in the third step, the match will be abandoned," the football governing body added.

This is not the first time FIFA has made efforts to stamp out racism from the game, but time will tell if these steps will lead to larger changes in the culture of the game.

Here are some famous incidents of racism that shamed the sport.

1990

Cameroonian goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell had bananas thrown at him during an infamous match between French clubs Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique Marseille, in which Bell was playing for Bordeaux. The match had to be stopped at various points. Marseille fans taunted him with racist chants and made ape-like gestures towards him.

“He brought the problem of racism in French stadiums, which had long been hidden, into the public domain,” journalist Alexandre Borde said about the incident many decades later in an article in La Pointe.

The “stupid monkey cries,” as Borde put it, have shamefully resurfaced many times in the game.

However, in 2014, when Barcelona player Dani Alves had a banana flung at him by players, he picked it up and took a bite. "We have suffered this in Spain for some time. You have to take it with a dose of humour," he said.

2013-2019

Italian-Ghanian Mario Balotelli and German-Ghanaian Kevin-Prince Boateng have both been subjected to racist taunts many times during their career.

In January 2013, Boatang was praised for walking off the pitch in response to racial slurs from the stands in Milan.

Four months later, however, Roma fans again made monkey chants at Boateng and Balotelli, who was photographed placing a finger to his lips in a hapless effort to silence them.

“These problems are not new,” wrote Nicky Bandini for the Guardian at the time of the incident. “The truth is that there can be no simple solution to a complex problem. Racism persists in Italian stadiums in part because it persists in sections of Italian society.”

Between August 2014 and March 2015, Balotelli then became the target of more than 8,000 abusive posts on social media, out of which more than 4,000 were racist.

In 2019, Balotelli was once again subjected to racial abuse, now by Hellas Verona fans. This time he kicked the ball into the stands and threatened to walk out.

2018

After South Korea defeated Germany in the FIFA World Cup, two Mexican television hosts made racist remarks against the country and pulled their eyes back. Both were fired by the television network they worked for.

2020

After England lost to Italy in the Euro games, three Black players who missed their penalty shots became the scapegoats for the defeat.

Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho received thousands of racist messages on social media, while a mural of Rashford was desecrated in Manchester. During the Black Lives Matter movement, the three were also booed for kneeling before the match.

It got so bad that then Prime Minister Boris Johnson felt the need to speak up for the players.

2023-2024

For the first time, a Spanish court sentenced three men to eight months in prison for hurling racial abuse against Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior at Valencia.

NPR reported: “Fans were heard loudly chanting mono -- “monkey,” in Spanish -- and making monkey gestures, resulting in public outrage and widespread international support for Vinícius, who was then 22. The soccer phenom said afterwards that similar incidents had happened repeatedly, and that while he views Spain as a beautiful country, ‘Racism is normal in La Liga.’”