Last Sunday (July 14) saw the historical climax of both the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Football Championship (Euro) 2024 and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) Copa América (America’s Cup) 2024.

Spain defeated England 2-1 in a hard-fought encounter in the afternoon to win their fourth Euro title, breaking a tie with Germany for the most championships, then later in the night (after a start delay of nearly 90 minutes due to un-ticketed spectators breeching the perimeter), Argentina, with a very late extra-time goal from Lautaro Martinez, defeated Colombia 1-0 and notched their 16th Copa crown, breaking a tie with Uruguay for the most ever.

Unfortunately, while there were obvious reasons for the jubilation of the players and fans of the winning teams, the scourge of racism was at the ready to rear its ugly head and continue the disgraceful history of degrading people because of their race, nationality, or ethnic background. This, despite UEFA and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) launching strategies focused on detecting, preventing, and punishing racist abuse of players, officials, and fans on the pitch, in the stands, and through social media.

Prior to the start of Euro 2024 at Wembley Stadium, England lost 1-0 in a friendly match against Iceland, and the home crowd was understandably displeased. Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka, recently back from an injury, was brought on as a substitute in the 65th minute of the match, well after the winning goal had been scored, and, therefore, had little impact on the outcome. However, the following morning, Saka’s image was used in several English mainstream media outlets to accompany reviews of the loss accompanied by dramatic headlines, including one that read ‘Black Ice’.

The documented (and undocumented) history of racism in general and in football in particular has had its ebb and flow, but it appears that the sport’s governing bodies had a significant oversight in their anti-discrimination campaigns – the mainstream press. Truth be told, some progress has been made. Spain did imprison fans who chanted racial slurs at Real Madrid’s Vinícius Junior last year, but progress should never be taken for granted, as now the mainstream press is a culprit in the blight that continues to plague the sport.

Of the infamously maligned trio who were victimised after the final of Euro 2020, Saka is the only member to make this year’s English football team – Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were the other two. All three were targeted with vile and racist abuse after not scoring their penalties in a shoot-out loss against Italy, and despite Saka having a consistent Euro 2024, his posts on Instagram were again bombarded with abhorrent racist comments, including revolting monkey slurs and repulsive emojis.

The Arsenal winger was left in tears after losing the final for the second-straight campaign. After enjoying a Euro in which he scored an exceptional goal against Switzerland in the quarter-final, he now finds himself in the horribly familiar territory of being made the sacrificial scapegoat after England again came out on the short end.

And while it is nauseating that this is coming from individuals not on the field of play, the headlines got worse as some players from Argentina, the 2022 World Cup champion, and now repeat Copa America winners, saw it fit to post a video on Instagram Live of them chorusing a deplorable song about France’s black players with African heritage. The song took its rise at the 2022 World Cup final, in which Argentina defeated France on penalties, and some Argentinian spectators went viral chanting the concocted “coon” song.

At the front and centre was Chelsea’s midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who has since belatedly posted an “Instagram apology” on Tuesday (July 16) night in which he claimed to “stand against discrimination in all forms”, but the damage had already been done. Chelsea has a large contingent of French players in their squad, including Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile; Fofana, Gusto, and Disasi have all unfollowed Fernandez on Instagram.

Not surprisingly, Fofana has been targeted with dreadful racist abuse on social media after his public condemnation of the song. But the strangest thing about the situation is that France is so far removed from Copa that some deeply rooted agenda must have been the stimulus for the unprovoked chant, with some noting the “whiteness” of Argentina. With only approximately one per cent of the population being of African descent, and the fact that there have hardly ever been any black players on the team, the stark contrast to other South American countries cannot be ignored, but that’s a whole other conversation for a different forum.

Chelsea published a statement in response to the video posted by their midfielder on Wednesday (July 17) morning in which they denounced “all forms” of discriminatory behaviour and confirmed they had opened disciplinary procedures. Fernandez is set to return to the Premier League side for preseason in the coming weeks and it remains to be seen how he will be welcomed by the organisation in general, and teammates specifically, and whether the English Football Association, FIFA, or the Argentinian Football Association will take any action.

It has been said, “The only time blackness and Englishness really mix is when the national team plays football.” But it is unfair to these players to be “English” when they’re winning but “black” when they are not. This situation is far from new, and despite optimistic efforts, this dark side of the Beautiful Game continues to be the bane of its existence.

Officially, there is zero tolerance for racism in football, which means that all players, coaches, officials, and spectators across the world should feel protected. Observers from various federations are constantly on the lookout for racist incidents, combing through online platforms for abusive posts, lobbying to get them removed and reporting the instigators to the police, who have promised to prosecute wherever possible. However, the plague of racism is so deeply entrenched that even with the best of efforts, it still feels like the governing bodies are trying to walk up the down escalator.

JustBet continues to offer attractive betting options on all popular sports and events (including virtual games) as soon as they become available. Please visit one of the over 130 locations (or visit www.supremegames.com/#/prelive) for details and place your bets on the prediction of your choice for maximum winnings…… Get in the GAME!