OSLO, Norway -- An American soccer player in Norway was subjected to racial taunts and spit on by fans during a game. Robbie Russel, who is black and was born in Amherst, Mass., plays for the Norwegian club Sogndal. "I've experienced racism, but never anything like this," the 24-year-old player told the state radio network NRK. He said four or five Brann fans on Sunday grabbed his jersey through the fence about 27 minutes into the game. "A woman spit in my face," he said. "The entire time a group of supporters were yelling racist things at me." Russel was not injured and declined to file a police complaint, choosing to let soccer organizations deal with the matter.

There was an outpouring of support for Russel and condemnation of his attackers in the national news media Monday. The Bergen-based Brann club promised to identify the culprits using TV footage and threatened to permanently ban them from Brann events. Russel supported such a move, saying "nothing entitles them to do that sort of thing to you.""We condemn all forms of racism in Norwegian soccer," said Karen Espelund, secretary-general of the Norwegian Soccer Federation. "Such behavior goes against everything we stand for." Russel joined Sogndal in May 2001, and the club beat Brann 3-1 for its first elite division victory of the season.


------- In the day and age of the enlightened Europe that we live in why do we continue to hear about this disgusting filth in European professional Football-be it Voetbal, Fussball, Calcio, etc. I as someone who is of black descent get disgusted everytime I hear these kind of stories especially in a game such as Football that is supposedly some uniter or reflection of the different cultures of the world out of all major sports, apart from the Olympic Games. I am a huge football fan, Arsenal at club level and cannot understand why this shit continues when black players travel to be it Turkey, some parts of Italy, Croatia and many other parts of Eastern Europe they have to deal with this bullshit. The ignorance of humanity is pathetic, its just a game.

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Because, unfortunately, football seems to attract the dregs of society.

^^^ Exactly...soccer fans are the worst (majority of them)..they are trash of society, like many football fans. Many dont even care about the sport itself, they feel, like mant sports fans, by cheering for a team is their way of expressing their anger, hate, rage becasue are really lifeless losers.

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Truly a shame when fans act that way over any sport, I am a passionate fan but can separate the game from the realities of life and respecting other people. I was a bit shocked that this was happening in Norway always thought highly of Scandanavia, a bit surprising.

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Yeah, the fans that the sport attracts are usually on the fringes of society - although this story represents a pretty vicious fringe.

I remember reading a story about Ajax in Amsterdam, which used to be a Jewish team, so the supporters bring Israeli flags to the matches. The opposing teams frequently shout taunts about genocide, gas chambers, and concentration camps.

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quote:

Originally posted by sufee_b ^^^ Exactly...soccer fans are the worst (majority of them)..they are trash of society, like many football fans. Many dont even care about the sport itself, they feel, like mant sports fans, by cheering for a team is their way of expressing their anger, hate, rage becasue are really lifeless losers.

absolute bullshit. football fans are too passionate about there game, football is a religion and like every religion you have got your fanatic zealots

quote:

Originally posted by sufee_b ^^^ Exactly...soccer fans are the worst (majority of them)..they are trash of society, like many football fans. Many dont even care about the sport itself, they feel, like mant sports fans, by cheering for a team is their way of expressing their anger, hate, rage becasue are really lifeless losers.

whoa there killer, lets try and put this in perspective.
I mean we can respect what your saying without the grossly irresponsible generalizations.

I was in Singapore for the 02 world cup quarter finals and in Yokahama for the finals. yes, plenty of Europeans and nationalism sure but anything but ugly.

but you may have some perspective on your end, lets hear it.

Idiocy has no boundaries. This is just another example. I do not however believe that the attitude of these retards are representative for football fans in Norway in general, thus we should not generalize.
Also, the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) has taken many serious steps in collaboration with the various teams against racism in norwegian football in general, but sadly it doesn't seem to have ironed it out completely as of yet.

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Last edited by Sand Leaper on May-10-2004 at 22:09

Well I think I take a bit of offence at being labelled on the fringe of society!!!

Sure, when I go to football matches the language I use I wouldn't wish my worse enemy to hear (unless of course it is the opposition fans or the f****** c*** of a referee!!!) but thats passion, football fans are the most passionate about their sport in the world and for the most part no, its not just a game. That is why you get racism etc at football matches. Certain parts of Europe (specifically Eastern Europe where there are no/few black people) are racist and that is expressed by their fans. Is part of their culture. Everywhere England play in East Europe our players have to suffer taunts bout the colour of their skin and its disgusting. During the 70s when hooliganism was at its height (with the exception of the current upsurge in hooliganism) we had racist fans too. But we did summat about it and thankfully it is mainly stamped out now (altho as racists are everywhere your still gonna find some) In Eastern Europe there have been no attempts to eradicate racism (in England you get banned for being racist for example) cos they simply dont care. However, I must say I am suprised to hear this kind of thing happen in Norway. I know Italy is very racist but I would have thought the Norweigans would be different but I hope the authorities take similar steps (if they dont already) to what we have done in England.

Still, football fans are not 'the fringe of society'* and you have to understand that football is so much more than sitting down for a few hours watching people play sport like you do in America! It means something. You dont have to live and work in the same place as your sworn enemies. We do. Its in our faces every day everywhere we go. Thats why it means so much to win and thats why some fans get carred away and get violent. Racism, however, is not acceptable and I would hope all countries make it clear that this is not acceptable. And if that fails (a la Eastern Europe) then I would expect UEFA and FIFA to start banning countries from taking part in competitions (especially Galatasary!)



*excluding all Sheffield W*dnesday supporters you piggy bastards!!!

No sports thread would be complete without this one. (Although it looks like the Feyenoord logos have been removed, and replaced with Auburn logos...whatever).

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quote:

Originally posted by Spin Doctor Because, unfortunately, football seems to attract the dregs of society.

It must be like NASCAR here in the States.

Last edited by DaveSZ on May-10-2004 at 22:50

quote:

Originally posted by NYCTrancefan Truly a shame when fans act that way over any sport, I am a passionate fan but can separate the game from the realities of life and respecting other people. I was a bit shocked that this was happening in Norway always thought highly of Scandanavia, a bit surprising.

Oh no you've got it all mistaken NYC. The Scandanavians aren't racist! God no! They are simply expressing their artisitc opinions and free speech.

Don't expect an apology from them anytime soon either

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