What is telling in regards to the video of Enzo Fernandez and other Argentine players singing a racist song about France after their victory within the Copa America final is the voice heard on the very end.
“Corta (el) vivo,” someone says – “stop the live stream.”
They know. They know what they’re saying. They know that what they’re saying is deeply offensive, and so they know what is going to occur when the skin world hears it.
It's not one among those things that you could rule out. It's not something that you could deny. The lyrics are clear and we all know them since the song has been around for just a few years.
The lyrics of the mantra were: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.”
The song in query was sung by a gaggle of Argentine fans ahead of the 2022 World Cup final, which was described on the time by French anti-racism protesters as “an expression of a far-right ideology.”
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Frankly, it's bad enough that Argentina, presumably shielded from a PR perspective by their World Cup victory, didn't attempt to distance themselves more from the song, however the undeniable fact that the players appear to have incorporated it into their celebrations is way worse. If nothing else, it's a testament to an uncomfortable collective mentality and prevailing culture that a gaggle of players, in a moment of triumph, would select this song as a part of their celebrations.
It's also price noting, without wanting to diminish the plain racism, that there may be also transphobia at play here. The full lyrics of the song check with French players who’re “Cometravas, like Mbappe.” “Cometravas” is a slang term that essentially means “someone who has sex with transgender people.”
Football on the whole has taken positive steps to make the sport more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. Players who actively select not to participate in anti-homophobia campaigns are thankfully few and much between, and those that do are sometimes punished – like Monaco midfielder Mohamed Camara, who was banned for 4 games last season after covering up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt.
However, things like this song don’t help, but actually actively harm efforts to make football a more inclusive place.
But as if the song itself and the joyful willingness of the musicians involved to sing it weren't depressing enough, the results were almost as bad.
Fernandez himself issued an apology of sorts, claiming he was “carried away by the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations” and that the song “did not reflect my character or my beliefs.” He also said, quite ridiculously, that he was “against discrimination in any form.” Let's just say that when he’s inevitably forced to participate in some kind of anti-racism campaign in the approaching weeks or months, his words will ring hole.
Chelsea itself reacted quite responsibly and issued an announcement outlining its own position and values. It said it might use this as an “opportunity for clarification” and that it had initiated internal disciplinary proceedings.
It will likely be interesting to see how this case pans out, because if Fernandez was a fan and was caught singing this song within the stands at Stamford Bridge, he would face the ugly end of a reasonably lengthy stadium ban.
Otherwise it was very quiet.
Wesley Fofana, the French defender for Chelsea FC, spoke of “unbridled racism”. David Datro Fofana, the club's striker from Ivory Coast, posted an announcement on Instagram saying that “racism in all its forms should be condemned in the strongest possible terms” and that the fight against racism “must be taken seriously by everyone involved in sport”.
David Datro Fofana also condemned the incident (Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
It's the last part that seems most relevant, because except for those two responses and an image posted by Nicolas Jackson of Fernandez hugging a black child (the meaning of which is open to interpretation), there wasn't much else.
So far, only black players have publicly acknowledged the incident. No white player has condemned the song. Perhaps a few of Fofana's white teammates have privately offered support, but nothing beyond that has happened thus far.
As we hear depressingly often, it’s the Black players who must do the emotional labor and bear the mental burden that comes with a racist incident. This reinforces the concept that racism is just a Black problem, when actually it’s a plague that shames us all. It isolates the Black players and suggests that nobody else has to fret about it.
Imagine the facility that may come from a white musician standing up unprompted and condemning the song. It could be a worthwhile symbol, nevertheless it could be greater than only a superficial thing. It would have real meaning.
The clubs of the opposite players within the video have chosen to not comment on the time of writing. Honestly, it's just a little difficult to obviously discover who’s singing within the video, but everyone appears to be doing their best to completely ignore the problem.
Maybe we could give them the good thing about the doubt and say that sooner or later they may speak to their Argentinian players and remind them of their responsibilities – not as footballers or representatives of a club, but as human beings. But for now, it seems they’re simply hoping that the entire thing will blow over.
Although it’s difficult to discover the people singing, anyone who sat silently while such a racist song was being sung would have at the least deserved a conversation. The least we will expect from the clubs is that they acknowledge the incident, investigate it and, if it seems that one among their players was involved, receive the suitable punishment.
Chelsea are the one club to have spoken out thus far, and this shouldn’t necessarily be a special thanks because they may not possibly have avoided it.
Otherwise, nevertheless, silence reigns. Despite all of the glossy campaigns, well-meaning initiatives and celebratory UEFA videos with the slogan “No to racism”, it is difficult to imagine that football is serious about fighting racism when there may be a lot silence at times like these.
image credit : www.nytimes.com