Are The Media And Politicians Killing Our Game?

[Super_Ally 0]

Alex Salmond was quoted in the Scotsman at the end of last week claiming that sectarianism will kill our game. Apparently European football authorities would take action and there would “not be a football game left” unless Scottish politicians tackle religious hatred.

 

This is the same European football authorities who had no interest in examining prejudice expressed inside Scottish football grounds until Scottish media and political figures highlighted the issue of religious intolerance to UEFA and pressed for sanctions against Rangers.

 

This is the same European authorities who routinely ignore more serious cases of bigotry and racism around the continent. Including the following examples from Russia and Poland:

 

 

Russian fans thanking West Brom for taking Odemwingie, a black player, away from their club.

 

 

Polish fans of Legia Warsaw displaying a jihad banner, an anti-Semitic display.

 

There are numerous other instances in major European countries, such as in Spain with severe racism issues against black players in high profile fixtures a regular occurrence.

 

Now this is not to say Scottish teams should be excused of any offensive behaviours, but it does highlight that without the influence of our own media and politicians, UEFA would have had little stomach to tackle a supposed problem in Scottish football.

 

Where our journalists and politicians also harm our national game is in exacerbating what is in fact a rather small problem within Scottish football and Scottish society as a whole. Leading academic Steve Bruce from Aberdeen University is rarely quoted within influential media in reference to sectarian issues, with charlatans like Tom Devine more often sought for a sound bite. Professor Bruce has conducted research into sectarianism in Scotland and has found a significant disparity between actual incidences of sectarianism and perceptions of occurrences of these incidents.

 

Despite many people in Scotland believing that it is rife within society very few have suffered because of it. For example, two thirds of those surveyed in Glasgow felt sectarian violence was very common, yet less than 1% had suffered because of it. 53% felt employment discrimination was common yet only 1% had reported they had suffered because of it.

 

In the second example half of the victims were not catholic. So, our politicians and media are aggressively pushing this anti-sectarian crusade largely on the basis of an assumed anti-catholic prejudice within Scotland, despite the fact that it is demonstrated to be a very small issue in Scottish society. Other forms of bigotry and prejudice are a greater issue in Scotland though are not highlighted by those in a position to do so.

 

Professor Bruce puts this inconsistency between the perception of the size of the sectarian issue and it’s actual prevalence within society down to the beliefs of opinion-leaders such as politicians and mass-media which are distorting their perceptions.

 

What this all demonstrates is that our media and parliamentary members are exaggerating an issue within Scottish society and then actively promoting it to European football authorities to damage the standing and success of our club sides in continental competition.

 

The question Alex Salmond should be answering in parliament is not about a sham-crusade against an artificially inflated issue, but why are the media and politicians killing our national game?

 

1 - http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/39Sectarianism-will-kill-our-game39.6845170.jp

2 - http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Beware-myths-that-tarnish-sectarian.2603272.jp

Edited October 3, 2011 by Zappa

[Zappa 0]

That's your article published Super_Ally!

[GovanAllan 0]

Great stuff SA. Simple answer if septic had won the last 3 league titles none of this would have started.

[Super_Ally 0]

Great stuff SA. Simple answer if septic had won the last 3 league titles none of this would have started.

 

Sadly I think it i true that if they were more succesful and were on top it would be less of an issue. Another reason that shows its a farce.

[GovanAllan 0]

Sadly I think it i true that if they were more succesful and were on top it would be less of an issue. Another reason that shows its a farce.

 

Still, got to say the powers that be didn't need much encouragement to jump on the bandwagon.