English Football Thread 2012/2013

[Dr. Pepper]

haha I love him. Total wum.

 

[puddleduck]

I used to quite like him, and he's good at what he does, but he has to be the biggest twunt in football at the moment?

 

[barmyarmy]

I was wondering how 3 Belgium teams can win their groups in the Europa League and 3 English teams crash out but then I realised that since the way we select teams for qualification is a joke it's no wonder they're all crap.
The only team that deserved a Europa League spot was Spurs.

 

[shravi]

FA is so ridiculous. It's obvious there is no real evidence against Suarez, just come out and say it! Idiots! If you did have evidence you would have given a verdict already!

 

[Auwais]

Huh? He has been charged with racial abuse.

The verdict, given by an independent three-man panel, has been delayed.

You can sit behind your PC and rant ignorantly all you want but none of us know jack.

 

[Haarithan]

FA is so ridiculous. It's obvious there is no evidence against Suarez, just come out and say it! Idiots! If you did have evidence you would have charged him already!

The evidence is there. All they're waiting for is a Spanish language translator to confirm whether or not calling a person 'negro' in Uruguay is just as ordinary as calling a European a 'blondie'.

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If anything, the charge they induced on Luis and Liverpool for raising his finger towards abusive Fulham fans is what I found incredibly ridiculous. They should have charged Fulham there, not Liverpool!

 

[shravi]

Huh? He has been charged with racial abuse.

The verdict, given by an independent three-man panel, has been delayed.

You can sit behind your PC and rant ignorantly all you want but none of us know jack.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Verdict. My bad, didn't word it properly.

The supposed 'evidence' is that he called him 'negrito'. From having lived in Venezuela for 3-4 years, I can safely tell you that it isn't considered racism. If that's actually their claim then that's not evidence.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I just don't see how it can't be racist, no matter what culture you're from. If you're bringing up someone's race when insulting them then how is that not being racist?!

What annoys me most about this trial are the stupid fan allegiances. I've seen idiots saying "Support Suarez no matter what the outcome". And then there are people who seem to think that if Suarez isn't guilty of being racist, then Evra is a liar, and should even be charged.

 

[shravi]

I don't think Evra should be charged or that Suarez should be let off the hook for saying something racist. If he said something racist, then he's guilty. However, I think that if that's what he said (negrito) then Evra's case is weak in the first place because that isn't racist. Maybe he shouldn't have said it because people in England wouldn't understand its meaning and try to guess what it means and then assume the worst. However, with a trial, you have the luxury of hindsight.

The word's literal translation is "little black man." But generally, negrito is not considered a racial slur in Latin America, Sawyer said. In fact, it frequently has a positive meaning.

"It's often a term of endearment," he said.

Chinea said his mother and stepfather, both of whom were light-skinned, frequently used the word.

"When they talked as a couple, my mother would say, 'negrito, I love you.' ... I grew up listening to those expressions commonly being used by a lot of people in my community in Puerto Rico. And it was never associated with any color," he said.

"It's not a slur whatsoever," said Espuelas, whose show often addresses racism in the Latino community. "It's a term of endearment. You definitely would not use that if you were angry. It would sound ridiculous."

"If I were of African descent and someone from that part of the world was to use the word toward me, I would probably think twice about what the intentions are, whereas if the person who was saying it was from Cuba you'd probably take it as a joke. And if you said it to a Puerto Rican, they'd just love it," Chinea said.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/17/sport/soccer-word-controversy/index.html

It's a different culture and it may be difficult to understand for some from the outside but he is only just warming to a new country. He said it as a term of endearment but sarcastically, not in a racist way because it's not a racist term.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

but...how isn't it racist? He was insulting Evra and brought up his race. Why would he bring that up unless he was being racist? It's not like he would say it as a statement, he'd say it in a derogatory manner.

 

[Ollie_H]

Why would he bring that up unless he was being racist? It's not like he would say it as a statement, he'd say it in a derogatory manner.

Because in the culture he's from IT'S NOT considered to be a racist slur. Adding '-ito' (or -ita) to the end of word gives it a term of endearment as Shravi said.

If a black guy calls me a 'bloudy white ****' is it racist? If it is, would I really kick up a fuss about it? To me it seems that the majority of racism is a one way street.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Okay I didn't realise that's what it was. I thought he meant that in his culture it's still an offence but fuss isn't made over it.

 

[m_vaughan]

but...how isn't it racist? He was insulting Evra and brought up his race. Why would he bring that up unless he was being racist? It's not like he would say it as a statement, he'd say it in a derogatory manner.

Well you have to see the intent of the statement really. If it is indeed a regularly used slang in your language/culture, then you might often use it without actually implying its 'true' meaning. I think it was the same issue with Luis Aragones's comment on Thierry Henry.

However I must say that since this game was played in England, and since Suarez is playing for an English team, he cannot use this 'culture' excuse and understand, respect and follow the rules an culture of the country where he is playing it. Why should Evra care about what the word means in Uruguay?

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Well that's another thing. Suarez has played in Europe for numerous years now. He should be aware of the implications of using such words, even if they're different in his culture.

 

[Haarithan]

Wigan deserved a win there...