Monday, November 07, 2005

"Asians Can't Play Football"

Has the national conference on Asian under-representation in football considered that Asian footballers may not have sufficient talent to play top flight football? In the highly competitive Premiership, teams cannot discriminate except on the basis of talent and ability.

Fat people are also under-represented in Premiership football, should there be a conference to address this too?

Why is an "Asians-only sporting academy at West Ham" tolerated?

9 comments:

David Vance said...

Snafu,

Yes, I spotted this mad story as well! I'm worried about the representation of one legged transgendered Islamists myself...

wonkotsane said...

Personally I am disgusted with the under-representation of Black Chinese-Albanian Wheelchair-bound Lepers in the Premiership. We should campaign for a law to force them to sacrifice quality for statistics. If it's good enough for the emergency services and government, it should be good enough for sport and business.

Snafu said...

Wonko, they already play for Chelsea!

HSBGuzzler said...

Id like to know what opportunities in practising to become a footballer do they think we are getting that they are not. What are these 'barriers?'
Why does Simon Johnson think he needs to ‘rid the game of discrimination.’ Isnt English football already comprised of players of too many nations – over and beyond a level that reflects society.

Anonymous said...

Hey, interesting site.
You might change your mind on this if an Asian from the academy becomes the next England star. So what if some people beat themselves up with their political correctness but give these young footballers some encouragement.
Don't agree with everything, but keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

There are already Asain players playing in the Premiership.

Scum have a Japaness player, boring Arse have or used to have a Japaness player, I think Everton have a Japaness or Chiness player.

DJ said...

Seems like these guys could learn something from how cricket authorities have brought large numbers of Asians into cricket. On the other hand, when will someone deal with the horrendous under-reprsentation of blacks in cricket ? At least, football is open to blacks - quite a lot of blacks in fact.

Gosh, it's almost like some bizzarely selective racism is affecting these two games. Either that or possibly different cultures like different games.

Nah, that's just crazy talk.

Alfie said...

Look - it's simple,if you're good enough, you get to the top. Football is blind - look at David Beckham,one up on the evolutionary scale from an amoeba.

I'd have loved a career in footy - but it was not to be. I was quite good, but not good enough. I got over it - without calling for a special footy school for nearly but not quite good enough footy players to be set up - they should get over it also. Maybe they should look to Cyril Regis, a particular hero of mine who along with Viv Anderson and Laurie Cunningham who as black players broke through to the top in spite of unbelievable, vindictive and awful racist chanting from the terraces.

Cyril - a true gent, held his head high, never rose to the baiting and just got on with it.I believe if an Asian guy wants to be a footballer, he should go for it. If he doesn't make it - that's because he ain't good enough. Fostering an alternate view or proffering an excuse that it's because of a racist 'lock-out' is inaccurate, ignorant and totally out of order.

Anonymous said...

some very moronic comments on here. firstly - asians are a race, unlike fat people. therefore it would be wholly inappropriate to address an under-representation of fat people in the premier league.
secondly - this debate isnt about one asian player becoming a star for england, its about encouraging people in the asian community to participate in sport at grass roots level with the long term aim of greater and more seamless integration in society.
thirdly - we are referring to asians of the subcontinent, not the orient.
fourthly - it is not as simple as 'if you are good enough you will succeed.' asian players will eventually be a big part of the football league, but they are currently experiencing the same hazing that black players went through. namely: racist biological determinism - 'black players dont understand tactics' and now 'asian players aren't big or strong enough and aren't committed. if they wanted it more they would succeed.' absolute nonsense. as well as this there is a cultural determination in that traditional asian families put greater emphasis on academic and scholarly work, meaning that asian footballers have less time to train and receive less backing and encouragement from parents or guardians.

HOWEVER, the winds of change are blowing. in the next 10 years we will see lots of asian footballers playing in the football league in england. when this happens i hope you ask yourselves the question of 'why are they suddenly good enough to succeed?'