‘There Was No Racism, It Was Danny Rose’s Fault’ – Serbian FA’s Take On England U21 Monkey-Chant Shitstorm

Chris Wright

17th, October 2012

25 Comments

By Chris Wright

The Serbian FA have claimed that they saw no ships in Krusevac. There was, in their own words, ‘no racism’ during England U21s game against their Serbian counterparts. Remember, the match that was played amid a relentless chorus of monkey chanting last night?

The Serbian FA have released a statement (it’s here in full) in which they claim their are ‘absolutely no grounds’ to make a connection between the skirmish that erupted at full-time and racism, even going a far as blaming Danny Rose for sparking the trouble with his “inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar” behaviour after the match:

“[The Serbian FA] absolutely refuses and denies that there were any occurrences of racism before and during the match at the stadium in Krusevac.

“Making connection between the seen incident – a fight between members of the two teams – and racism has absolutely no ground and we consider it to be a total malevolence.

“Unfortunately, after the fourth minute of the additional time and the victory goal scored by the guest team, unpleasant scenes were seen on the pitch.

“And while most of the English team players celebrated the score, their player number three, Danny Rose, behaved in inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner towards the supporters on the stands at the stadium in Krusevac, and for that he was shown a red card.”

 Wow, just… wow.

Posted in FAIL, International football

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25 Comments

  1. Mr. Chopper says:

    “And while most of the English team players celebrated the score, their player number three, Danny Rose, behaved in inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner just like the black bas- and for that he was shown a red card.”

  2. Nanny Plum says:

    A bizarre & frankly repellent statement. Perhaps the Serbian FA are worried about reprisals from the thug element unless they ‘toed the line’?

  3. Al says:

    unreal, reminiscent of Comical Ali during the Iraq war saying they had no issues with US tanks rolling in behind, serious action required from UEFA/FIFA although I fear it won’t happen, if the roles were reversed no doubt the English team would be kicked out of the tournament, ridiculous double standards

  4. yes says:

    Well well well, the English media strikes, again, otherwise known as the most manipulative body of lies in the world.
    Danny Rose was provoking both the players on the pitch and the crowd. He was jeering them on. And if those are ‘monkey chants’ to you then you are a degenerate, sir. All of yous.
    Idk what England’s complaining anyway, the country used to be white like 40 years ago

  5. Alex says:

    I hate to sound naive, but perhaps the Serbian FA are ‘in on the act’, maybe they don’t think the serbian team rushing towards rose and slapping him is a big deal because he is black.

    Totally agree with Al, something must be done, nothing will be done, except the serbian FA might be 5K or so worse off by the time it’s all blown over.

  6. Nuno says:

    @Al
    I don’t think the greedy guys at FIFA would throw England away from the tournament and miss the revenues they would give.
    I don’t recall what was Serbia’s punishment for the incidents in Italy a couple years ago, but I believe they got some matches behind closed doors. Surely re-incidence should be taken into account.
    (recalling http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/photos/47157/italy-vs-serbia-abandoned-after-serbian-hooligans-riot.html )

  7. ChristianVieri says:

    Monkey-Chant Shitstorm? More like English-media Shitstorm. Ah those dastardly racist,diving foreigners…ruuuuuining the beautiful game so they are.
    Wait until the investigation is complete before resorting to hyperbole and crass tabloid journalism reminiscent of the DM.Its “he said,she said” stuff at this stage.
    The media in Engerland have been living off non stories and crass journalism for the past few years and this hint of controversy is just more oxygen to keep the gutter press immersed in scandal for a while yet

  8. Mike says:

    Vieri – are you deaf? If you hear something unmistakably, do you always need an investigation to be completed before you believe it? If I call you a cynt, would you need to wait for the investigation to be completed? Idiot.

  9. Considered Response says:

    Are you fucking nuts Vieri? Do you think the monkey chants on eye-witness video were added later? fucks sake.

  10. SL says:

    And of course UEFA have now charged England with improper conduct of their players.

    Its so sad that we all knew it was coming.

  11. Fitz says:

    @ChristianVieri

    Did the video not play properly for you? Play it again; make sure the sound’s up.

  12. TheDoc says:

    “During each and every minute of the match, until the mentioned last one, sports atmosphere full of respecting fair-play spirit was at the pitch and the stands, from warming up of both of the teams, through national anthems and applauses of all the present when the English anthem finished.”

    I guess all that stuff being thrown on the pitch throughout the game was from an overpassing plane whose cargo had come loose?

  13. Joe says:

    Complaining that foreigners dive is definitely annoying and does reek of cultural stereotyping for sure. This is especially true when all that is used is anecdotal evidence, though; I’m not sure some sort of “scientific” statistical study would make it OK either. It’s absolutely something to be addressed and your right to point that out. But this is not what this article is about.
    Watch that video… it’s right there. Watch that and tell me that this is not fucked. Everything about it is disgusting and Serbia’s response to it is mind-blowingly regressive. They bring this on themselves with their statement, all they had to say way, “It’s being investigated and we don’t condone any such action should it have taken place.” They did not and they’re getting called out on it and that’s good thing.
    The article is talking about how some kid who is playing a game (this part is important: this is just a game… it really is) got howled at in an incredibly degrading way based on absolutely nothing but who he is told by Serbia’s FA that it was his fault. You’re comparison to the English press wining about foreign divers is tenuous, at best. You come across as a bit of a blowhard that does not seem to grasp nuance or that there are varying degrees of severity that people can offend/be offended
    I’m going to repeat it in bullet points:
    1. Should the English press’ language about foreign divers be scrutinized as there is a definitely a sense of lazy generalization that does no-one any good? Yes. Absolutely.
    2. Should people who make monkey noises at a player because of they are black be shamed to no end until they realize that they’re stuck in the year 1812 and change? Yes. Absolutely.
    3. Should the organization that represents it’s country’s football program withhold judgement and not blame the offended party when it’s pretty clear that there might be something there? Yes. Absolutely.
    4.Does saying that because the English press calls out foreign divers more than homegrown divers make you sound like a d-bag when you use it to minimize the fact that in spite of video evidence of racial degradation on a large scale during a game, a country’s FA said that nothing happened, and if something did, then it’s the players fault? Yes… It really does make you look like one.

    You’re not the victim here and neither is the Serbian FA. It’s 2012 and this shit should be called out for what it is from every mountaintop.

  14. Jamie says:

    This just adds to the disgrace of last night. Just kick out the Serbian national team, all age groups, and clubs from UEFA/FIFA competitions. If they’re like that at U21 what are they gonna be like when there fully grown professionals?

  15. sloth says:

    @Vieri, did you watch the attached video? It’s not “he said, she said” when we have video proof of racial abuse. This isn’t like a sex scandal or a ghost-goal controversy, racism is a serious problem around the world and media attention and calls to action are needed to address it.

    But I’m not English and I don’t live in England and I don’t get much English media, so maybe I don’t understand why you’d rather attack the press than attack racists…

  16. Anon says:

    @ChristianVieri:

    It’s not an english media shitstorm… you could quite clearly hear the monkey chants on the broadcast. It has nothing to do with hating foreigners and everything to do with some Serbian ultras thinking racism and abuse (and physical violence) is right and just. UEFA needs to step up and punish Serbia in a more serious manner.

  17. Vasko says:

    Pathetic. Makes me embaressed to be from Eastern Europe honestly, what a bunch of sad little twats. In all probability FIFA will back them up and fine England instead.

  18. Frank says:

    I agree with ChristianVieri to a point, but in the sense that I think media hyperbole over bullsh*t stories in the past have made people cynical, perhaps desensitised about “real” issues such as this.

    This is the sort of racism that we should e dealing with, not the playground bo**ocks of before.

  19. Al says:

    @ christianvieri – the monkey chants were clearly audible and Serbia are repeat offenders so I’m not sure it’s a media shitstorm, quite the contrary, it’s blatant racism. Your reaction is exactly what I predicted a few months ago when I said non-racism stories getting blown out of proportion by the press will lead to actual racism incidents not getting the reaction they should

  20. Rashaad says:

    First of all, I feel for Danny Rose. I really do.

    Secondly.. what the Serbian crowd did, does it fall under “freedom of expression”?

  21. plops says:

    @Rashaad – Of course it doesn’t you thick tit.

  22. momo says:

    @ChristianVieri – how did your well thought out comment work out for you mate?

  23. ChristianVieri says:

    I didnt realize the court of opinion held more weight then an actual investigation by an independant body with no vested interests into the matter,newspapers and public outcry should not dictate guilt or innocence.
    In the video there is both whistling,cheering clapping and what could be construed as monkey chanting in parts.I have no side in the fight, i would merely ask for impartiality from the news as media,as we know where having an agenda before printing the story can lead to-Hillsborough coverage twisted via the Sun and the tabloid media.

  24. ChristianVieri says:

    Also whats the difference between any verbal abuse and racism? I recall Sol Cambell kicking up a fuss over homophobic abuse which occurs at every ground up and down the country with footballers sexuality,image etc being questioned and insulted ad-infinitum.
    Are the FA on a mission to sanitize football? If so then I would agree with the people on here calling for bans and fines to players/fans who use ANY kind of abuse.But that isnt the case, we have selective opprobrium in regards to racism emanating from the media and police.What is the end goal in all of this? To have football as a sanitized family friendly jaunt for the middle classes? If so,fine that is admirable,drive out the “yobs” etc..but dont have a half hearted racism storm every few months and then essentially do nothing.You have to ban all insulting speech or none of it.
    If the media and police were honest about wanting to clean up the conduct of fans there would be policemen and women recording the crowd at football games and charging every fan/player who utters mindless insults and slurs. But that would be addressing the real issue…..
    We will have a token fine and and vilification from the English media (who are ignoring what happens in stadiums up and down the country until it becomes convenient for them to sell papers) and maybe a few games played behind closed doors.
    And I havent even begun to talk about free speech…

  25. Rashaad says:

    @plops: Wow ok, thanks for the concise & passionate response :) Just checking what’s the standard of people in this forum in differentiating between “freedom of expression” with “freedom to insult” and “respect”.
    PS: I kind of LOL’d at the term “thick tit”, hehe.. And relax, I’m a “colored” person also, so I genuinely do feel for Rose & other racial abuse victims.

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