Scotlandâ??s Sectarianism Industry â?? Our Real Shame

[Frankie 8,151]

http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/144-scotland-s-sectarianism-industry-our-real-shame

 

Itâ??s with great interest that Iâ??ve seen the sectarianism in football issue crop again in the media and political arenas over the last week. It certainly seems that the Scottish Governmentâ??s much heralded, deep breath, â??Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012â?? is struggling to persuade people that it provides the scale and consistency required to seriously tackle what remains an apparently worrying (though exaggerated) problem in Scotland.

 

In that respect, given the widespread criticism it received during its time as a hastily conceived Bill over 2011/12; itâ??s hardly a surprise that recently published prosecution stats fail to convince the tax-payer that this was a worthwhile project. However, you will note that I refrain from describing this as an SNP failure given successive Scottish Government administrations have struggled to deliver a genuine solution for the alleged bigotry in our society.

 

This aspect of the debate particularly interests me because in 2008, this website published a short but relevant report into the issue based upon the politics of that period (2006-2008). During this time the Labour led Executive had their own committees and quangos investigating â??Sectarianism in Footballâ??. Youâ??ll note once again the concentration towards one particular sport and section of society. Clearly the SNP are not the only political party suggesting the scourge of sectarianism seems to be the fault of football. Despite that immediate flaw, in 2007 the SPL rushed to introduce their own â??Unacceptable Conductâ?? rules which seem to have been used as much as Lee Wallaceâ??s right foot. Looking at their application itâ??s hardly a surprise that Rangers appear to have been the only team censured before the SPL quickly forgot it had the powers to punish offensive behaviour. Do the Match Delegates only drink whisky and eat pies now?

 

You can read the 12-page Gersnet report here, remembering that this was put together over five years ago and the then Executiveâ??s Working Group findings were published in December 2006. Quite frankly, Iâ??m far from amazed that I was using the same language then as what many commentators are talking about now.

 

First of all, I think itâ??s fair to say the eight action points offered by the SIF Working Group are still reasonable ones. They spoke of establishing new discussion bodies, creating awareness campaigns and strengthening licensing schemes alongside the new 2007 SPL rules. To this day, Iâ??m not sure any these positive suggestions actually happened but one thing is for sure, the issue is still one that the media and politicians enjoy returning to. Even the comedy figure that is Stewart Regan wanted to have his say but fortunately for us his SFA member clubs rejected his proposals. Iâ??m sure we all want progress but the chances of the discredited Regan delivering a consistent and workable solution are around zero.

 

Other action points the Working Group presented were to standardise stewarding policies and ensure football Banning Orders were used consistently. In that sense, itâ??s clear that all relevant parties have failed to provide this. For example, different sets of fans may argue about different songs but they almost all still complain about over-zealous stewarding and more than one Sheriff has had difficulty interpreting the law well enough to enforce a Banning Order. The new 2012 Bill has provided no clarity in that respect.

 

One other issue that the Gersnet report touched on (and indeed the politicians) was the roles and responsibilities the media had when it came to discussing the issue. As was highlighted then, it remains obvious that sections of the media struggle to report on sectarianism (or at the very least offensive behaviour) in a consistent and even-handed manner. As I said in 2008, there is still â??no doubt that there exists in the Scottish media an element of disappointing opportunism in terms of erratic commentary on the bigotry problem in footballâ??. This presents one of the biggest challenges in terms of ensuring the issue is debated openly and with real balance to avoid the very conflicts of the initial problem. Indeed it could be argued that many elements of the debate contribute to a vicious circle which seems to pull us all down far too frequently.

 

Moreover, some of these crucial elements have too much to gain from the issue â?? be it profile-wise or in a financial way. No-one wants to criticise charity workers at the coal-face or journalists/politicians wanting to achieve positive change but for every genuine person there is one who is less constructive. With that in mind, is the sectarianism issue really one that affects Scottish society more than racism, poverty or crime? If not, why do we continue to throw millions of pounds and thousands of words at it? Is bigotry a bona fide concern or more of a self-sustaining industry?

 

Unfortunately, given we do seem to be going round in circles repeating ourselves every few years using the same language and offering the same flawed solutions, it can only be the latter. The actual truth is Offensive Behaviour in football is part and parcel of what used to be our national sport. So, instead of having tens of thousands of fans indulging in no more than banter based on generic tribalism, weâ??ve sanitised and politicised the sport so much that people prefer to sit on their fat arse at home instead of getting out and taking an active part at their clubs. How does that affect the economy and our personal well-being?

 

In conclusion, we either take this alleged problem seriously and prosecute everyone for every small bit of abuse or we accept the issue for what it is â?? an exaggerated excuse for people to gain from. The very fact an out-of-date and simplistic report by one football fan can answer that question says it all. This means Scotlandâ??s shame isnâ??t that we have a huge number of bigots but we have too many people exploiting an issue given disproportionate attention by opportunists that only see a chance to make hay while the sun shines. Who is brave enough to expose that? Such a person would be a real leader...

[bluebear54 0]

Superb post Frankie.

Your point about the media is spot on. I've been hammering on for years about them.

It's not just a question of bias, which there undoubtably is. It's a question of the level of coverage they give I be hard pushed to guess who was driving this , but the Police are a good bet. Also, a blind man could see that there has been a very heavy anti-Rangers bias.

Many thanks Frankie.

[Zappa 0]

Fantastic work Frankie!

 

In particular, I agree with your sentiments about the whole thing being made into a self-serving industry.

 

For what it's worth, I think the answer (or certainly a satisfactory one for us) to this issue, is a long way off. It should be simple, we want it to be simple, but it just isn't and I think that's a big problem for us.

 

Another point I agree with and it's something I've said many times myself too, is your point about the Scottish media and how they utilize the subject because it certainly isn't balanced, especially when it comes out of Pacific Quay.

 

Is there an answer? Well, I think you probably propose the most sensible one and that's for the government & police to let people say whatever the hell they like when it simply involves exchanges of words and banter at the football.

[Guest JCS]

Thoughtful, insightful, rational and emminently sensible article Frankie - what a pity those qualities are totally absent in our legislators and politicians!

[RANGERRAB 3,263]

The fact is that the Sectarianism Industry has provided a platform to attack Rangers for fading, no mark journalists & two bob politicians who gleefully accept this to vent their ant-Rangers bigotry. The fact that the response from both us(the support) hasn't always been what it might have been has allowed this 'industry' to gather momentum at times(against us)

[foggy dewhurst 0]

today old foggy got lost in the eastend i ended up allong a street called inveresk and on someones gable end of their house/home some moron had painted in big black letters f**k of sevco now i ask you what kind of people are let loose .