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Rugby's Rife With Racism
By: Peter Jenkins, Chief Rugby Writer
The Daily Telegraph (18 March 2005)


(Daily Telegraph Backpage, 18 March 2005)

FORMER Wallaby centre Gary Ella last night made the explosive claim that club rugby union is rife with racial abuse.

On the day Waratahs forward Justin Harrison stood down from the NSW side after admitting to a racist slur against Cats winger Chumani Booi, Ella alleged the ugly practice is common at the grassroots level.

"It happens week in, week out in club football," the Parramatta coach and former Waratahs backline mentor told The Daily Telegraph.

"There are islanders who appear before the judiciary and a lot of them have been provoked by verbal comments.

"I had a player sent off recently [for striking]. When I asked him what had happened he told me 'he made a comment about my heritage'."

A Parramatta player, who asked not to be named, claimed he was racially abused a fortnight ago in a trial match.

But even more disturbingly, he said he suffered similar taunts three times last season.

"I did something physical, but not dirty, to an opponent," said the player of Samoan descent. "He didn't like it. He called me a f****** black idiot.

"There have been other times too. I've got a bit of a thick skin to it now. I try to get them back in other ways. But it's not nice. It does bother me."

Asked why he had never lodged an official protest about racial abuse, the player said: "We've not really been educated about that.

"And you also feel a bit uncomfortable about that whole thing."

Ella furnished first-hand knowledge of other incidents where players had retaliated against racial slurs.

"There was one where an [Aboriginal] player told me he was called a 'black c***' and punched the guy. He said 'I got sent off and he didn't'."

The Daily Telegraph has been told the NSW judiciary panel has been required "on occasion" to take claims of racial abuse against defendants into consideration when determining penalties. But judiciary chairman Terry Willis said last night he was unable to comment on Ella's claims. It is understood Willis's reluctance is due to him being placed on standby to chair the panel for the Harrison hearing if the matter is referred by a disciplinary officer in South Africa to the Australian Rugby Union.

One source also suggested club players who fronted the judiciary and claimed they were reacting to racial vilification would be asked why an official complaint about the abuse had not been lodged with the NSW Rugby Union.

NSWRU competition manager Michael Groom said he had not received any official complaints from clubs or players on racial abuse since joining the union three years ago. "I have obviously not been furnished with any evidence," he said.

"Allegations may have been made at a judiciary hearing as part of a player's defence but the club may not have done anything prior in the way of seeking a remedy.

"If a comment was passed at the judiciary, something should have been brought forward by the club beforehand. Otherwise it could all be hearsay.

"If something like [racial abuse] is brought to our attention then we'll deal with it through the correct channels.

"We follow the same guidelines as the ARU. We would act on it."

Ella said he doubted whether many racial abuse victims were aware of the correct process to file a complaint.

"I don't think they know what the standard procedures are," he said. "But this needs to be brought out into the open."

Ella joined a lengthy list of former Wallabies who called for action against Harrison in the wake of the incident at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday night.

Ella believes a suspension must be handed down.

"Suspend him for a minimum three weeks," Ella said.

Weblink
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ALSO SEE

Racial Slur Leaves Oz Looking Two-Faced

Google Aust News Archive: Justin Harrison and Chumani Booi

[Mowlana Vector]

Souths Captain Accused of Racial Slur


(DT frontpage)

Racial vilification reared its ugly head in the NRL today with Parramatta forward Dean Widders accusing South Sydney captain Bryan Fletcher of making a racial slur against him during the match at Parramatta Stadium.

On what was meant to be a day of celebrations for the Aboriginal community with the start of National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week, Widders claimed Fletcher directed a derogatory comment towards him in the second half of the match won by the Eels 52-16.

Souths chief executive Shane Richardson said the club would wait until the dust had settled before taking any action.

"We take those sort of things very, very seriously," Richardson said.

"We'll talk to Fletcher, examine what the situation is and then we'll respond accordingly, but it's a very, very big thing racial vilification and we will take it very very seriously."

Widders, an Aboriginal footballer from Armidale in northern NSW, did not make a formal complaint to the referee or the NRL, but told Eels chief executive Dennis Fitzgerald about the incident.

"Dean Widders took offence at a remark said on the field by Bryan Fletcher," Fitzgerald said.

"Dean's initial reaction was to go right on with it with a complaint."

The alleged incident occurred after Fletcher had made a tackle on Widders, followed by a bit of a push and shove between the two.

Fitzgerald said the club had endeavoured to have a meeting between Widders and Fletcher but Widders declined.

"He's very emotional about it and he decided with all the emotion going on that he was best off not to have any meeting straight after the game," Fitzgerald said.

"Dean's weighing up his options overnight before deciding whether he'll make an official complaint to the NRL."

Fitzgerald was aware of what was alleged to have been said and said Widders' teammates also overheard the comment, but he was unaware as to whether Fletcher had admitted anything.

NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley, who was at the match, said the league would wait to see if a formal complaint was made tomorrow.

"At this stage we have no complaint," Annesley said.

"There is a very clear process under our rules for dealing with complaints if and when they are received.

"Should a complaint be received it requires a conciliation meeting to take place and then if it's not resolved there, it goes to a full appeals committee hearing."

But Annesley said the NRL had power to act even if no official complaint was made.

"A written complaint is the first requirement beyond that the NRL will reserve its position on the matter," he said.

The NRL said it would encourage anyone that had a genuine complaint to bring it forward, and that there were clear sanctions for anyone who offended, with fines and suspensions a definite possibility for an offender.

"We do take all of these matter very seriously and should complaint be made, we will fully investigate," Annesley said.

Earlier in the day a host of Aboriginal sporting stars, including Anthony Mundine and Kyle Vander Kuyp, had been paraded in front of the crowd as part of NAIDOC celebrations, with the match between the Eels and the Rabbitohs the NRL's contribution to activities.

The weekend rugby league round failed to resolve much, with no change to the top eight and the only slightly surprising result being the Wests Tigers win over an injury-depleted Manly.

Brisbane and Parramatta have moved clear at the top of the table with 28 and 24 points respectively.

Three teams, the Cowboys, Manly and Cronulla, are all on 22 points with another four - the Storm, the Dragons, the Roosters and the Raider - bunched just behind on 20 points.

In other news, Canberra five-eighth Jason Smith hopes to sign on for another year with the Raiders by as soon as tomorrow.

Sick of negotiations between his manager and Canberra chief executive Simon Hawkins being dragged out for a month now, the 33-year-old sat down with coach Matt Elliott yesterday and reached an informal agreement.

"I personally want to stay here and I had a good chat to Matty yesterday and hopefully it can get resolved on Monday," he said.

"Matty wants to get it over and done with too because it's dragged on a bit too much."

Smith said it was unlikely he would continue at Canberra past the 2006 year, mainly because his son was starting school in 2007 and he hoped to move his family to their 52 acre property at Billyinudgel, near Byron Bay in north eastern NSW, in time to attend the local school.

"I'll just do it one year at a time," he said.

"But you never know, I won't rule it out yet."

AAP
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FURTHER READING

NSWRL: National Code of Conduct

Sport & Racism: Obstacle Race - Aborigines in Sport

Australian Aboriginal Sports Stars and Athletes



The Race Against Racism

Football and Racist Commentary

How to end Racism: Islamic Perspectives

Addicted to Racism

FACE THE FACTS: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Poeple

Racism & History in Australia

Australian History and Race Relations

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Widders' Racial Abuse Call


(Image courtesy smh)

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South's Skipper Sacked For Race Slur

Bryan Fletcher was stripped of the South Sydney captaincy and fined $10,000 by the NRL club today for a racial slur against Parramatta's Dean Widders.

The Rabbitohs took swift action against Fletcher, who called Widders a "black ----" during the second half of yesterday's NRL clash between the Eels and Souths.

Wigan-bound Fletcher, who apologised publicly for his comments and to Widders personally, was stood down for his club's match against Cronulla at Aussie Stadium on Saturday night.

Half of the $10,000 fine will be donated to an Aboriginal charity of Widders' nomination while the other $5000 will be suspended.

An apologetic Fletcher will also assist Widders in his work with the indigenous community before the 31-year-old departs to play in England next year.

"I can't complain," said Fletcher when asked at a media conference in Redfern today whether the punishment was sufficient.

"I've done the wrong thing. It's probably the worst thing you could ever do.

"Although it's only words, they're pretty harsh words that I've said."

Fletcher could not explain his uncharacteristic comments, saying the racial taunt was made in the "heat of the battle".

"I've never said it before and I guarantee I won't be saying it again," the former NSW and Australian back-rower added.

"I was driving all the way home from Parramatta last night ... it makes me feel ill what I said."

Rabbitohs chief executive Shane Richardson had little alternative but to sack Fletcher as captain, particularly given the gravity of the situation and the fact his club is based in a strong Aboriginal area.

Souths needed to send a strong message that racial abuse will not be tolerated.

"The Aboriginal people don't deserve to be treated that way," added Richardson less than 24 hours after the launch of NAIDOC week - a celebration of indigenous culture.

"The message is quite simple - racial taunts are just totally and utterly unacceptable."

Fletcher insisted he was no racist. "I've got Koori friends. It was nothing directed at Dean," he said.

"It wasn't racism - it was just a comment that I shouldn't have made. It was just stupid."

Widders accepted Fletcher's personal apology in a telephone conversation last night and even thanked his former Sydney Roosters teammate today for helping him launch his first grade career in 2000.

"He and Brad Fittler gave me my start at first grade in the Roosters and stuck up for me in testing times of my career," said Widders.

"I know in no way is he a racist person and in no way was there any racial undertones in what he said to me on the field.

"I think maybe he was a bit frustrated at the time and let it slip."

But Widders said he felt insulted by Fletcher's remark and emphasised it was wrong for players to take out their frustrations in that manner.

"I don't in any way think players should use these sort of words when they're frustrated on the football field or in the heat of battle because to me these words go a lot further than that. They really sting," he said.

Widders said he understood why Fletcher initially denied that he had racially abused him before coming clean and believed the Souths forward was genuinely remorseful.

"I actually saw him walk off the field. He was embarrassed by it all and he was hoping everything would just disappear," Widders said.

Both Widders and NRL chief executive David Gallop said it was an isolated incident and they did not believe racism was rampant in rugby league.

The last player to be charged for a similar taunt was Bulldogs forward Barry Ward, who was fined $10,000 - later halved on appeal - for racially abusing Anthony Mundine in 1998.

"Where there are isolated instances of racial abuse it's important that penalties are imposed so that people in our game understand the ramifications of their actions and also to act as a deterrent to others," said Gallop.

Widders added: "Rugby league's a great game for indigenous people. In no way am I trying to say there's a problem with racism in the game."

Fletcher was disappointed at the poor example he had set for young people.

"I certainly wouldn't want my kids growing up listening to this sort of rubbish," he said.

AAP (Weblink)
======================

[Mowlana Vector]

'I Felt Ill'
By:Paul Kent (Rugby League Writer)
The Daily Telegraph (5 July 2005)



Dean Widders believes Bryan Fletcher has emerged as the perfect role model to fight racism after the South Sydney star paid a heavy price for abusive comments made on Sunday.

Fletcher was stripped of the South Sydney captaincy, suspended, fined $10,000 and ordered to help Widders work with Aboriginal children as punishment for racial comments he directed at the Parramatta player.

Fletcher apologised to Widders after the game but yesterday issued a further public apology.

"I apologise unreservedly," Fletcher said. "The comments were totally unacceptable and for that I am sorry.

"It is not in my character to make those comments and I admit that I have made a huge mistake. It is unacceptable and I fully accept the consequences of my actions."

Fletcher said he was driving home from the game when the magnitude of what he had done began to dawn. "It makes me feel ill, what I said," Fletcher said.

Most upsetting for both men is the fact they are, in fact, friends.

"If it wasn't for Fletch and Brad Fittler I wouldn't have got a start in first grade," Widders said.

The Parramatta star and high-profile member of the Aboriginal community said he was looking forward to using Fletcher as a weapon to fight racism.

Widders starts work with the Human Rights Equal Opportunity Commission tomorrow and will look to get Fletcher involved.

"Hopefully I can get him involved in this Human Rights thing because he could be a good role model for kids as a person that has accidentally said the wrong thing and knows what it feels like," Widders said.

"I think he was pretty embarrassed after it but it makes him a good role model for kids.

"He knows what it is like to slip up."

Widders said he was offended by the racist comments and was considering pursuing a racial vilification charge before hearing from Fletcher on Sunday night.

"When Fletch rang me he didn't ask me what I wanted to say, he just told me how he felt, which is exactly what I wanted as well," Widders said.

"I said, 'Fletch, what you do and what you say will really set a good example for young kids and help other kids in the NRL about not stepping over the mark'.

"It does offend me as an Aboriginal person and he really understood that."

Fletcher was still deeply upset after making the apology.

Impressively, though, if only because it does not happen enough, at no stage did Fletcher try to absolve himself of blame or even diminish responsibility for what he said.

At one point he was asked a leading question that could have helped explain his attack.

"Look," he said, "I said the wrong thing.

"I'm just upset about the whole incident.

"I can't complain. I have done the wrong thing. It's probably the worst thing you can ever do."

Widders said the remorse in Fletcher's voice convinced him the apology was genuine.
===================================

[Mowlana Vector]

The Next Issue

Racism has been tackled, but football remains an uneven playing field where religion is concerned, writes Waleed Aly*


The Nicky Winmar incident.
(Photo: Wayne Ludbey)

When I was working for a judge in the Family Court, I remember hearing a barrister quote Jack Dyer in the course of his closing argument. Bizarrely, it did not seem out of place. That says a lot about the centrality of sport in our national story. I cannot imagine Ian Botham being quoted in the House of Lords.

Very often, we define our place in the world with reference to our sporting feats. We overachieve in international sport, mainly because we seem to take it more seriously than anyone else. We have a tiny population and a massive Olympic team. We are a nation that packages our culture in sport.

A friend of mine finds this appalling. For him, this is not as rich as a culture built on the legacy of civilisational and political history. This is a limited view of both culture and sport. It says culture is about art, literature and cuisine, while sport is not culture, but a pastime: life's trivial circus.

Perhaps the drawback to a sport-obsessed culture is that it is prone to distraction. Admittedly, more than ever, I find football provides me with an escape from an increasingly depressing world.

But the benefit is that sport is largely a meritocracy. Where sport is the vehicle for culture, anyone can jump on board. You do not need a genetic link with the nation's past. Cultural life is not so much about a shared history as it is a shared present.

I speak from experience. I was born and grew up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, but I was the only child on my street or at my school with Egyptian blood. It was a racial difference I was made to feel, at times sharply, and, like any child, I wanted to belong. Sport was my bridge.

My brother, 10 years my senior, had been through all this and made an excellent coach. Having to compete with him in the backyard made me dominant when I played against my classmates.

Aged six, I was asked at my local football clinic to play football against 10-year-olds. At seven, I was playing cricket in the under 12s and took a hat-trick. At school, people wanted to be on my team and all of a sudden, I wasn't so foreign. In those formative years, I was not playing a game; I was creating social capital.

In Melbourne, no sport possesses the social dominance of Australian football. A decent football story in the middle of summer will still knock cricket off the back page. This is why football is so heavily appropriated for all sorts of causes, from corporate advertising to awareness of breast cancer. More than any other aspect of Australian social life, it can be an agent for change because it speaks loudly to so many people.

And it has been. I often contemplate how football has created a genuine, if still inadequate, link between indigenous and wider Australia. Certainly it has been successful where politics has failed miserably. My perception is that we get far closer to reconciliation at the MCG than we do at Parliament House.

I have a tremendous affinity for Aboriginal footballers; to me, their presence fights my fight from childhood. I internalised that beautiful, terrible incident at Victoria Park in 1993 when Nicky Winmar lifted his jumper, pointed to his skin and said to the Collingwood fans: "I'm black and I'm proud." I understood it because I had been to Victoria Park, too. "So am I," I thought.

Winmar shook the foundations of racism in Australian sport that day. He had exposed bigots as fools. As the AFL came to deal with racial vilification on the field, the supporters moved with it. I go to almost every Richmond game and I cannot remember the last time I heard a racist smear directed at a player. Football, through men like Winmar and Michael Long, has made a significant social contribution.

But, in a post-September 11 world, we face new challenges. My wife, a woman with First Fleet descent and a Melbourne Cricket Club membership, happens also to be a Muslim and wears a headscarf. She won't go to the footy any more. She is sick of being stared at, of overhearing jibes not meant for her ears and some that are. She has had enough. Could football reduce this gap, too?

This round, the AFL celebrates "Community Weekend" for the stated purpose of recognising football's central contribution to Australian life. It is a contribution that is about more than local clubs that hold a town together. It is also about social attitudes that hold a people together. There is much to recognise, but there is much still to do.

*waleed@icv.org.au
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[Anthony_r]

Bro,

What about the Ahmed ElRich article? Where people taunted him with insults and it made him play harder.

[Mowlana Vector]

Ahmad Elrich: Muslim Socceroo

Kareem, on Oct 13 2005, 01:30 PM, said:

Bro, What about the Ahmed ElRich article? Where people taunted him with insults and it made him play harder.

Bro, where and when did u read it?

[Anthony_r]

Hmm can't remember bro, sorry. It was somewhere on the net....

This post has been edited by Kareem: 13 October 2005 - 02:26 PM

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B)

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Ponting Slams WACA Racism Incident

[Mowlana Vector]

What's the Score?: Racism and Australian Sport



A Survey of Cultural Diversity and Racism in Australian Sport

[Mowlana Vector]

Symonds Claims He's Become A Victim of Media Manipulation, Not Just Racism



Mukul Kesavan: No Room for Bigotry | Peter Roebuck: The Race of Our Lives

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Treat the Indians with Respect: Ponting