Kick It Out...

To be honest Pie it is a bit comical. When you state how much the Kick it Out campaigns budget is and then compare that to the wages of players such as Lescott, the Ferdinands, K. Jones and Roberts then it makes you wonder a little. I am not saying they should donate all of their money (and Roberts does a lot of brilliant work for charity etc.) but to have such strong views on something and seemingly doing little to help the campaign get the resources required to function at the level they would like does seem, hmm, a little odd.

A Black Union for the players would be a very foolish thing to do. That straight away causes seperation amongst players and I for one think that would be the complete wrong way to go about things.

To speak of Rio just quickly, I like how he is trying to act like a great pillar of society, when only a few weeks ago he made a stupid remark about Cole being a 'choc-ice'. Many people could deem that racist and I am sure Rio knew what he was doing. He does seem to reek a little of his own self-importance, and comes across as a bit of a hypocrite.

The punishments are poor, no doubt. Especially the concistency of it all, and especially the fines handed out by the governing bodies of UEFA and FIFA. Perfect example is the Bendtner pants incident, how he is find so much more than the terrible racist abuse the Porto fans dished out is quite unbelievable. Then again, the FA, UEFA and FIFA all seem to do what they want and don't feel the need to take responcibility for their actions.

I do understand the frustrations of the players, but I think there displeasure would have been better directed at the governing bodies and not a campaign, that although not perfect, wants the same thing as all of us.

What is going on? Some people have egos to massage, some people are completely oblivious to what is actually happening in football, some people are frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress and comitment to punish those who have been found guilty and some people are doing what they think is the right thing to do. Everyone wants the same thing, but has a different vision of how to get there I think, and it does make you wonder about the communication between groups such as Kick It Out, the FA, FIFA, UEFA and the players and the PFA.

The whole thing has become a mess and shows no signs of stopping.

Chelsea V United on Sunday, Rio V Cole, will they/won’t they handshake episode no. 345….yawwwnnnn!

I don't see a whole lot wrong with whats been going on to be honest. Racism in football is something that needed to be addressed and it was. However the current measures aren't working (or aren't working fast enough), and Roberts took it upon himself to make a statement and give the campaign some impetus. Good on him and it seems to be working, in terms of awareness at least anyway.

I do agree that black and white players should put their money where their mouth is though if they feel strongly enough about it. That a major project in such a rich sport as football could only recieve half a million a year funding just shows the sordid extent to which player wages gobble up all revenue. So dig in your pockets Rio and co and make a tangible contribution if you want something to happen.

Good points Ren and Wild i can't agree more about the handshake snore fest.

Bwh, your first and second paragraph show clearly the stupidity and inconsistency though. It is fair for the issue of influence to be raised with regards to the FA part funding the campaign so why then don't the players contribute. Then to single one race out that could break away is ridiculously hypocritical.

People are talking about it i agree, but what they are saying is not particularly constructive or helpful and lacks a clear message. "We don't support the kio campaign" could be interpreted as wanting more racism in football!

To be fair to Ferdinand I don't think he's the sharpest tool in the box!

A black players union would be racist