Morelos sectarian abuse

[26th of foot 5,829]

4 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Fantastic statement from the club. It has anger running all the way through it. 

 

Now that the Police have charged an individual with racially abusing Alfredo Morelos at the Old Firm game on 29 December, it is necessary to state yet again that racist abuse, indeed abuse of any form, must never be condoned or dismissed.

The first thing to be made clear is that even though many others commented on the issue of abuse (racial and sectarian) directed towards Alfredo Morelos, Rangers had a duty of care not to say anything that might compromise a live Police Scotland investigation. What none of us should ever do, however, is dismiss, or trivialise abusive behaviour as too many media outlets, journalists, and pundits have done in this instance.

Perhaps there might be a bout of contrition and one or two may feel a pang of guilt now that the evidence some of them so loudly demanded is there in the form of this charge.

If enough of our media had been of a mind to treat the issue with the gravity required from the outset, as normally happens with these issues, there would have been none of the dismissive comments which have helped pollute social media, newspapers and broadcast platforms. Social media is, of course, largely lawless but some of the pieces written and broadcast around Alfredo Morelos in mainstream media were and remain disgraceful.

He has been described as a waster, a cheat, an angry brat and one columnist/pundit actually wrote that if you can’t take the vitriol you are in the wrong city. The implication seems to be that the fault lies not with those who choose racism and abuse, but with a young immigrant who chose to come to our country. This is a deeply disturbing attitude and that it was actually expressed in a national newspaper defies belief.

When a player is at the centre of an abuse claim he is treated with respect and sensitivity and given support. That is certainly the case in England, but not here and most certainly not with Alfredo Morelos, who is actually being demonised in many quarters of the media.

A number of factually incorrect stories have been written and published about Alfredo recently causing a great deal of stress and anxiety within his family at a time when his heavily-pregnant wife should be calm and relaxed.

A river of negative and hurtful attention has been flowing towards the Morelos family without thought or concern for the individuals involved and the way they have been treated is shameful. Especially vulgar is the manner in which claims of abuse, racist and sectarian, have been dismissed in some quarters – BBC Scotland in particular – where the overall situation has been mocked amid outrageous claims that Rangers were behind the leaking of certain stories. None of this shows our media and country in a good light.

Perhaps now some people will take a long and honest look at themselves and who knows, they might even apologise, but all of this serves only to make Rangers even more committed to our Everyone Anyone campaign. We will not stop or slow our efforts to make Ibrox a place open and welcoming to all.

Finally, Rangers would be more than happy to accommodate the young person involved in this latest incident on one of our courses designed to help people understand why racist and sectarian abuse is unacceptable. Indeed, if any of those journalists/pundits who got it so badly wrong would like to attend we’d also welcome and help them.

Send Stuart Cosgrove along.

[DMAA 3,603]

11 hours ago, Gaffer said:

I agree.  This is an excellent statement, but the hatred runs too deep for any of them to apologise.  I, like every other bear, will remain angry until these disgusting commentators get what thy deserve.  Every one of the most should be sacked, and in any other country that's what would happen.  I've ways been proud to be Scottish and British.  Unfortunately these days I'm becoming disgusted at what our little country is becoming.  I hope we can somehow recover.

I reported Michael Stewart to Kick it Out for demanding proof that a young black player who claimed he was racially abused was in fact abused and even insinuating that it was made up. Only in Scotland could a BBC employee say that on national radio and go unchallenged. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by DMAA

[Gonzo79 13,597]

The statement won't achieve anything.

 

Actions speak louder than words.

[ranger_syntax 3,765]

Quite a statement.

[Bill 13,717]

I think you'll find the contents of that statement will quickly be ridiculed in exactly the same quarters that it refers to.

 

Be absolutely sure of one thing. The treatment of Morelos has nothing to do with poor judgement or a failure of editorial control. It is deliberate, calculated and vindictive, so hoping to shame those responsible into a change of heart shows a forlorn misunderstanding of the depth of bigotry and bitter hatred burning inside so much of what used to be a decent country to live in.

[ian1964 10,411]

https://twitter.com/JS_WTB/status/1226935406089920513

Edited February 10, 2020 by ian1964

[Bluedell 5,329]

53 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

The statement won't achieve anything.

 

Actions speak louder than words.

Yeah, will the club still welcome those it's calling out into the stadium?

[Bill 13,717]

 

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

The statement won't achieve anything.

 

Actions speak louder than words.

 

6 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

Yeah, will the club still welcome those it's calling out into the stadium?

As long as the club continues to welcome these people and organisations to Ibrox, no cleverly crafted statement will achieve anything. In fact it could just as easily be construed as a means of body swerving any practical action.

[Gaffer 1,665]

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

The statement won't achieve anything.

 

Actions speak louder than words.

Exactly!  I think the statement is excellent as a first step but there must be consequences.  If we can't achieve that through the legal system, or from the relevant football authorities, we need to take it into our hands by revoking all press privileges, and denying them any access to our stadium, players or management team.

[Bill 13,717]

Slight  digression. I see Dave King was robbed at gunpoint in South Africa and I'm sure this will also be a source of great amusement the next time the BBC gets round to discussing football.