The Eboue Problem
Last night, a fellow gooner tweeted a video of Eboue apparently being “racially abused” by Bekistas fans. I like Eboue. He is a product of the prestigious Asec Mimosa Sol Beni football academy that was down the street from my high school. He was also in the same formation class with a good friend of mine who also happens to be his national teammate. Additionally, Eboue was a gunner and when I put up an argument for the gunners, common sense doesn’t usually apply if it goes anything against Arsenal. All these present a strong reason for me to accept that Eboue was a victim of some racist Turkish fools that just don’t want black people in their league. However, the common sense that typically lack when discussing anything associated with Arsenal kicked in this time and this time alone (Chelsea & Spurs fans don't try your luck), so I decided to check the video out before formulating an opinion on the incident.
At first glance of the video, I saw an empty water bottle being thrown at Eboue and he collapsed as if a bazooka had hit him. After years of watching him apply similar antics playing for Arsenal, I personally think Eboue was being his usual self and overreacting. After streaming the video and reading fan reactions to the incident, it seems that Bekistas fans got enraged by Eboue’s deceitful antics (diving, complaining too much etc) and decided to give him something real to react to, so they threw real objects that definitely made him duck for cover albeit overreacting again.
Recently, the world of football has been marred by claims of racism. JT, Suarez and even Blatter, the boss of football caught heat this week. However, in the case of Eboue, I think it was the atmosphere of the bitter rivalry shared between Bekistas and Galatasary that got the best of him. Judging from his Premiership performances wearing an Arsenal shirt, I would not be surprised that he had dived earlier in the game to make the Bekistas fans specifically target him. My logic is that, there were other black Galatasary players on the pitch with him and they never got pelted with objects.
All in all though, violence in football is wrong and should be condemned. Teams that are found guilty should be handed a punishment that will deter their fans from committing similar random acts of thuggery. Footballers come to the pitch to entertain us and it is actually very sad to see a footballer seeking refuge from a football pitch due to the actions of few idiotic fans.
The Blatter Problem:
Earlier this week, Blatter made a stupid comment that a racial slur can be remedied by a handshake. It got most of England buzzing as the British press and authorities already had it out for Blatter for pulling the plug on their efforts to host the world cup in 2018 or 2022. Sepp Blatter will now have a fresh problem this week. The Eboue problem puts Blatter and Fifa in a funny position that may see the organization take a strong fisted stance punishing Bekistas in a way that surpasses the norm for offending teams. I would see this as an act by the organization to vindicate itself and make a point that their boss, Sepp Blatter is not a racist. If that happens to be the case, it will be unfortunate, but it will also serve as a good lesson for the few idiotic fans that come to football games to cause trouble.
