tinofbeans 86 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 If you want a job done properly do it yourself. So goes the mantra of those who have entrusted dirty work to others who were supposedly more qualified only to end up trying to sort out the mess themselves. We have all been there and now it seems the Football Association and Middlesbrough have joined in our chorus of disappointment. On Wednesday, Newcastle fan Barry Norman Hutchinson, aged 49, was fined £270 with £45 costs after admitting racially abusing Middlesbrough's Egyptian-born forward Mido. He did not, however, receive a banning order excluding him from every football ground in the country, much to the chagrin of the Premier League club and the English game's governing body. "It makes it very difficult for football clubs to have a robust anti-racism policy without the support of the courts," said a club spokesman. "Despite this setback, we will continue to be vigilant and supportive of the police in tackling all discriminatory and anti-social behaviour." Those who run the game, and who have made commendable efforts to clean it up in recent years, have every right to feel disappointed, although they are perhaps victims of their own naivety. Anyone who has spent time in our magistrates courts will know that justice is often random and occasionally batty, just as they will also know the ingenuity — or should that be brass neck? — of defendants is without limit. In Hutchinson's case, the so-called "mitigation" constitutes a collector's item for absurdists. "Essentially he thought the song referred to Mido having a ball as opposed to a bomb," said his lawyer when asked to explain why the accused have been singing "Mido, he has a bomb you know". The court bought this explanation, along with what it described as Hutchinson's remorse, and handed down its ruling. We could spend an age deconstructing this verdict or we could move swiftly on to the kernel of the case; are we going to tolerate racial abuse (or for that matter homophobic abuse) at football grounds or we are not? Do we take an absolutist approach to those who offend our sensibilities in this way, or do we accept there may be mitigating circumstances? The answers are so obvious that it seems unnecessary to state them, but for those still groping in the dark here is a clue — racism is illegal. Yet if certain kinds of abuse are unacceptable in any circumstances, there is another category upon which the statute book has nothing to say, where there are no laws, only opinions. To boo or not to boo? That has been the issue as the nation has divided over the treatment of Emmanuel Eboué by Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. At this stage in the debate, the last thing the world needs is yet another opinion. Did Eboué's tears signify something greater than the disappointment of an under-performing professional footballer? Have football fans become so entitled they think the price of a match ticket buys them the right to humiliate a grown man in such a way? If this is the case, should they not be ashamed of themselves? We could go on and on, but as the questions pile up and the arguments grow ever more fierce the temptation becomes irresistible to seek answers in what we know rather than what everyone and his Labrador thinks. And what we know is the booing aimed at Eboué, unlike the racist abuse aimed at Mido, was not illegal. This is an important distinction because it leads us to the only logical response to this week's furore over terracing behaviour, which is this: We may not like the things people say and do when they are in football grounds but, if no laws are broken, then we have to accept their right to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 5874 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Whilst racist and homophobic chants have no place on the terraces its a piss take that this fella and the 2 spurs fans have been arrested over it. There are plenty more violent and antisocial crimes that take place every day in every town and the police are a lot more reluctant to get involved in paperwork for it when its not likely to result in a conviction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinofbeans 86 Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 hmmmn. racism is racism. fairly black and white to me. i do agree that in terms of murders rape or nonces its not on that scale, but it is still slighting someone on the colour of their skin etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack 6763 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 hmmmn. racism is racism. fairly black and white to me. i do agree that in terms of murders rape or nonces its not on that scale, but it is still slighting someone on the colour of their skin etc etc. No it fucking wasn't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadrian 0 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 (edited) im still not convinced it was racially motivated , it was just abit of banter , they seem to want to make examples out of people . are they seriously saying they could only pin that chanting on 2 people at the game ? honestly hate the fucking way we have to tiptoe round muslim's for fear of insulting them , when christianity and every other religion is ripped to shreds on a daily basis and nobody gives a fuck . religion is all bollocks Edited December 11, 2008 by Hadrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 hmmmn. racism is racism. fairly black and white to me. i do agree that in terms of murders rape or nonces its not on that scale, but it is still slighting someone on the colour of their skin etc etc. "Mido he's a peado" was one of the chants brought against them. Paedophileophobia is just not acceptable™ in modern Britian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The fucking Guardian are determined to make a huge thing out of this. Already said I thought this chanting was foolish at best but fancy having your name dragged through the mud in the national press over this (bet he loses his job etc.) over what really is a storm in a tea-cup. Mind, while I've mentioned the hypocrisy of this furore and the origin of the likeness being pointed out (Private Eye) I would imagine the subtlety of the joke was lost on most of the divvies singing the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Where's this from btw? It'll probably go a long way explaining the Private Eye/other fans hypocrisy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The fucking Guardian are determined to make a huge thing out of this. Already said I thought this chanting was foolish at best but fancy having your name dragged through the mud in the national press over this (bet he loses his job etc.) over what really is a storm in a tea-cup. Mind, while I've mentioned the hypocrisy of this furore and the origin of the likeness being pointed out (Private Eye) I would imagine the subtlety of the joke was lost on most of the divvies singing the song. Ah, there you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The fucking Guardian are determined to make a huge thing out of this. Already said I thought this chanting was foolish at best but fancy having your name dragged through the mud in the national press over this (bet he loses his job etc.) over what really is a storm in a tea-cup. Mind, while I've mentioned the hypocrisy of this furore and the origin of the likeness being pointed out (Private Eye) I would imagine the subtlety of the joke was lost on most of the divvies singing the song. Ah, there you go. Sums them up man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack 6763 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The fucking Guardian are determined to make a huge thing out of this. Already said I thought this chanting was foolish at best but fancy having your name dragged through the mud in the national press over this (bet he loses his job etc.) over what really is a storm in a tea-cup. Mind, while I've mentioned the hypocrisy of this furore and the origin of the likeness being pointed out (Private Eye) I would imagine the subtlety of the joke was lost on most of the divvies singing the song. Agree, with all of that, can't understand why the zealots aren't storming that rascist publications offices right now Also the CPS were pretty clever I reckon (and his defence lawyer was incompetent) but he was charged with Rascist OR Offensive chanting, the Mido/Paedo reference would be considered offensive so he was fucked on that one, but if it was me I'd have fought like fuck to get the bullshit rascist word removed. Exhibit A being a copy of Private Eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeys Fist 38506 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 im still not convinced it was racially motivated , it was just abit of banter , they seem to want to make examples out of people .are they seriously saying they could only pin that chanting on 2 people at the game ? honestly hate the fucking way we have to tiptoe round muslim's for fear of insulting them , when christianity and every other religion is ripped to shreds on a daily basis and nobody gives a fuck . religion is all bollocks strange that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The fucking Guardian are determined to make a huge thing out of this. Already said I thought this chanting was foolish at best but fancy having your name dragged through the mud in the national press over this (bet he loses his job etc.) over what really is a storm in a tea-cup. Mind, while I've mentioned the hypocrisy of this furore and the origin of the likeness being pointed out (Private Eye) I would imagine the subtlety of the joke was lost on most of the divvies singing the song. Agree, with all of that, can't understand why the zealots aren't storming that rascist publications offices right now Also the CPS were pretty clever I reckon (and his defence lawyer was incompetent) but he was charged with Rascist OR Offensive chanting, the Mido/Paedo reference would be considered offensive so he was fucked on that one, but if it was me I'd have fought like fuck to get the bullshit rascist word removed. Exhibit A being a copy of Private Eye. That's probably why they only got two of them. Just two of them were probably daft enough not to deny everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeys Fist 38506 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 The fucking Guardian are determined to make a huge thing out of this. Already said I thought this chanting was foolish at best but fancy having your name dragged through the mud in the national press over this (bet he loses his job etc.) over what really is a storm in a tea-cup. Mind, while I've mentioned the hypocrisy of this furore and the origin of the likeness being pointed out (Private Eye) I would imagine the subtlety of the joke was lost on most of the divvies singing the song. Agree, with all of that, can't understand why the zealots aren't storming that rascist publications offices right now Also the CPS were pretty clever I reckon (and his defence lawyer was incompetent) but he was charged with Rascist OR Offensive chanting, the Mido/Paedo reference would be considered offensive so he was fucked on that one, but if it was me I'd have fought like fuck to get the bullshit rascist word removed. Exhibit A being a copy of Private Eye. That's probably why they only got two of them. Just two of them were probably daft enough not to deny everything. I think he admitted it, his son denies it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinofbeans 86 Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 out of interest a quick google search against the man in question shows a fair few pages, and without doubt he'll be put under pressure by the usual anti racist groups and others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 out of interest a quick google search against the man in question shows a fair few pages, and without doubt he'll be put under pressure by the usual anti racist groups and others... A good hounding and lynching solves everything, or at least so the KKK reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack 6763 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 out of interest a quick google search against the man in question shows a fair few pages, and without doubt he'll be put under pressure by the usual anti racist groups and others... A good hounding and lynching solves everything, or at least so the KKK reckon. I wonder what the loony-leftie version of the KKK is, because it's getting very powerfull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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