Criticising Uefa to be done with caution!

The disgusting behaviour of the Bulgarian football fans showed no sign of abating after the "announcement was read out over the speaker system", and a walk-off by the players might have had more effect, particularly in the long term (England match halted twice over racist abuse, 15/10/19). No doubt Uefa`s sanctions against the Bulgarian football union will be increased, with perhaps 15,000 of the 46,340 seats "closed off as punishment" next time, but the UK`s response to racism is often equally ineffective.

     Ian Wright might well be "proud of what we are doing at the moment", but as John Barnes recently wrote, "racism cannot be eradicated from stadiums until it is eradicated from society", and the UK is a long way from achieving that ("I was seen as the voice of reason on race. I haven`t changed",14/10/19). Those responsible for Leave.EU`s deeply offensive xenophobic tweet last week were allowed to get away with their racism with a deletion and feeble apology, the propagandists` equivalent of 1000 stadium seats (Banks says sorry after Leave.EU`s xenophobic Merkel tweet, 10/10/19)! Why was no action taken against the pro-Brexit campaign group, when the guidance for Crown Prosecutors over Part 111 of the Public Order Act of 1986 when dealing with incitement to racial hatred, defines the latter as "hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins"? For an offence to be committed, it has be be "threatening, abusive or insulting", and it has to be "likely in all the circumstances to stir up racial hatred". Just like the Bulgarian fans,  Leave.EU`s anti-German meme was inciting racist hatred. Throwing stones at Uefa from inside our British greenhouse is not necessarily the wisest action!