After what happened in Serbia it is easy to stand the moral high ground, as quite obviously we are light years ahead in terms of this issue. However it's also quite obvious there are racists within the club game and these could quite clearly translate to England games. Furthermore English fans do have history of inflammatory songs with those about WW2 and the IRA, which have nothing to do with Football, although obviously not racist.
It's interesting that the targets were the Ferdinand brothers though, as it does create an idea of what type of fan (and the club they support) that is to blame in this.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21974280
Alleged Ferdinand racist chants 'hearsay' - fan group
By David OrnsteinBBC Sport
Comments (165)
The Football Supporters' Federation has criticised anti-racism network Fare for reporting alleged racist chanting by England fans on the basis of "hearsay".
Fare filed a complaint to Fifa after an offensive song was said to be aimed at Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton during the 8-0 victory over San Marino.
But Kevin Miles of the FSF told BBC Sport he heard no racist chanting.
Rio Ferdinand's England career
1997: Makes England debut v Cameroon at Wembley
1998: Named in squad for 1998 World Cup finals but does not play
2000: Left out of Euro 2000 squad
2002: Scores first England goal in 3-0 win over Denmark at 2002 World Cup
2004: Banned for eight months after missing a drugs test
2006: Plays five games at World Cup in Germany
2008: Captains England for first time in defeat by France in March - loses out to John Terry in battle for permanent skipper role
2010: Terry is stripped of captaincy and Ferdinand is given the armband but injury rules him out of the 2010 World Cup
2011: Makes his 81st appearance in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland
He said: "The idea that England fans should be reported for what is effectively hearsay is dangerous."
In a statement the Football Association said its security officers monitored the English supporters in the stadium and had access to recorded video footage.
It said: "While we have no reason to dispute the media reports, which are without doubt made for the right reasons of fighting racism, at this time we have not found any recorded evidence of the specific discriminatory chanting referring to Rio and Anton Ferdinand."
Fare did not have its own observers at the match and said it had pulled together evidence, including "media comment".
The Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday, 27 March that some England fans sang a song during the World Cup qualifier on Friday, 22 March suggesting the brothers be burned on a bonfire.
"It's sad that it's been done without any reference to the FA, or supporters organisations, from the point of view of trying to find a constructive solution to these things - if there's any evidence it's taken place," said FSF chief executive Miles.
Ferdinand was called into the England squad for the first time since 2011 for the double-header against San Marino and Montenegro, but withdrew stating he had a "pre-planned programme".
The 34-year-old then flew to Qatar to work as a TV pundit covering the San Marino game.
It has been claimed the alleged chanting had racist overtones as Anton Ferdinand was racially abused by former England captain John Terry.
"There was certainly a lot of antipathy towards Rio Ferdinand among the England fans in San Marino," added Miles.
"From my experience, it was not racially motivated - it was much more to do with the fact that he chose not to join the England squad and was then summarising for Al Jazeera.
Continue reading the main story
“There was certainly a lot of antipathy towards Rio Ferdinand among the England fans in San Marino. But from my experience it was not racially motivated at all”
Kevin MilesChief executive, Football Supporters Federation
"There were chants of expressive disapproval at that - perhaps not in the most tasteful way, but not to my opinion racially motivated."
When asked about the alleged bonfire song, Miles replied: "I didn't hear that at all. It certainly wasn't heard in my earshot.
"One of the difficulties in this is that the England support was split over two stands on opposite sides of the pitch and I can only say with absolute certainty what I heard. But I did not hear any chanting towards Rio Ferdinand or anybody else that was racially motivated."
The Daily Mirror also reported that England fans repeatedly chanted "Rio Ferdinand, we know what you are".
But Miles countered: "They were singing 'We know where you are' with reference to him being in Dubai."
He admitted there has been an issue with racism among England supporters in the past, but insisted this case was different.
"There was a general satisfaction with the performance of the replacement centre-halves and given that Chris Smalling and Joleon Lescott are black, that would suggest it wasn't a general racially motivated opposition towards black players in the England team", he said.
"There were particularly bad experiences when we played a friendly in France in 2000. I thought there was widespread racism among the England fans and we took that up as an organisation.
"However, we have to make sure this is approached in a constructive and proportionate way - and I don't think that's been done in this particular case."
Here's the alleged chant courtesy of that wonderful paper the mail...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...dinand-chants-England-fans-reported-FIFA.html
The chant was: 'Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put Rio on the top, put Anton in the middle, then burn the f****** lot.'
It's interesting that the targets were the Ferdinand brothers though, as it does create an idea of what type of fan (and the club they support) that is to blame in this.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21974280
Alleged Ferdinand racist chants 'hearsay' - fan group
Comments (165)
The Football Supporters' Federation has criticised anti-racism network Fare for reporting alleged racist chanting by England fans on the basis of "hearsay".
Fare filed a complaint to Fifa after an offensive song was said to be aimed at Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton during the 8-0 victory over San Marino.
But Kevin Miles of the FSF told BBC Sport he heard no racist chanting.
Rio Ferdinand's England career
1997: Makes England debut v Cameroon at Wembley
1998: Named in squad for 1998 World Cup finals but does not play
2000: Left out of Euro 2000 squad
2002: Scores first England goal in 3-0 win over Denmark at 2002 World Cup
2004: Banned for eight months after missing a drugs test
2006: Plays five games at World Cup in Germany
2008: Captains England for first time in defeat by France in March - loses out to John Terry in battle for permanent skipper role
2010: Terry is stripped of captaincy and Ferdinand is given the armband but injury rules him out of the 2010 World Cup
2011: Makes his 81st appearance in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland
He said: "The idea that England fans should be reported for what is effectively hearsay is dangerous."
In a statement the Football Association said its security officers monitored the English supporters in the stadium and had access to recorded video footage.
It said: "While we have no reason to dispute the media reports, which are without doubt made for the right reasons of fighting racism, at this time we have not found any recorded evidence of the specific discriminatory chanting referring to Rio and Anton Ferdinand."
Fare did not have its own observers at the match and said it had pulled together evidence, including "media comment".
The Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday, 27 March that some England fans sang a song during the World Cup qualifier on Friday, 22 March suggesting the brothers be burned on a bonfire.
"It's sad that it's been done without any reference to the FA, or supporters organisations, from the point of view of trying to find a constructive solution to these things - if there's any evidence it's taken place," said FSF chief executive Miles.
Ferdinand was called into the England squad for the first time since 2011 for the double-header against San Marino and Montenegro, but withdrew stating he had a "pre-planned programme".
The 34-year-old then flew to Qatar to work as a TV pundit covering the San Marino game.
It has been claimed the alleged chanting had racist overtones as Anton Ferdinand was racially abused by former England captain John Terry.
"There was certainly a lot of antipathy towards Rio Ferdinand among the England fans in San Marino," added Miles.
"From my experience, it was not racially motivated - it was much more to do with the fact that he chose not to join the England squad and was then summarising for Al Jazeera.
Continue reading the main story
“There was certainly a lot of antipathy towards Rio Ferdinand among the England fans in San Marino. But from my experience it was not racially motivated at all”
Kevin MilesChief executive, Football Supporters Federation
"There were chants of expressive disapproval at that - perhaps not in the most tasteful way, but not to my opinion racially motivated."
When asked about the alleged bonfire song, Miles replied: "I didn't hear that at all. It certainly wasn't heard in my earshot.
"One of the difficulties in this is that the England support was split over two stands on opposite sides of the pitch and I can only say with absolute certainty what I heard. But I did not hear any chanting towards Rio Ferdinand or anybody else that was racially motivated."
The Daily Mirror also reported that England fans repeatedly chanted "Rio Ferdinand, we know what you are".
But Miles countered: "They were singing 'We know where you are' with reference to him being in Dubai."
He admitted there has been an issue with racism among England supporters in the past, but insisted this case was different.
"There was a general satisfaction with the performance of the replacement centre-halves and given that Chris Smalling and Joleon Lescott are black, that would suggest it wasn't a general racially motivated opposition towards black players in the England team", he said.
"There were particularly bad experiences when we played a friendly in France in 2000. I thought there was widespread racism among the England fans and we took that up as an organisation.
"However, we have to make sure this is approached in a constructive and proportionate way - and I don't think that's been done in this particular case."
Here's the alleged chant courtesy of that wonderful paper the mail...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...dinand-chants-England-fans-reported-FIFA.html
The chant was: 'Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put Rio on the top, put Anton in the middle, then burn the f****** lot.'