Post by QPR Report on Mar 3, 2009 7:23:21 GMT
The Guardian/David Hytner
Campbell wants points deducted for fans' abuse• Authorities must act now on indecent and racist chanting
• Portsmouth have missed chance to build on 2008 success
Sol Campbell has called on football's authorities to deduct points from clubs whose supporters are found guilty of indecent and racist chanting. The Portsmouth captain, speaking in an interview with the Guardian, has long been the target of abuse from Tottenham Hotspur fans, who have never forgiven him for leaving them for Arsenal in 2001, and was subjected to vile chants during Portsmouth's 2–0 Premier League win over Tottenham at Fratton Park last September.
"I think that they [the game's authorities] are going to have to do more," said Campbell. "My situation is a small part. But also, you have the racial abuse in the rest of Europe. The only way you can stop it from happening is by taking points from clubs. Then it would definitely stop. If it's just way over the top and you start taking points ... [with] those three points, you can lose the championship or you can be going down. That's the only way you can stop fans' abuse on that type of level.
"There is all sorts up and down the league, there is always someone saying something or part of the crowd saying something to certain players, but there is a level and once that level is crossed, I think people have to step in and sort it out.
"Football seems to think it can keep on going without getting checked. In most other sports on this level, it doesn't happen. You're not going to get that in tennis, rugby, cricket or athletics. It's just not accepted."
Hampshire police launched an investigation into the abuse suffered by Campbell that they hoped would set a precedent. After releasing photographs on the internet of 16 suspects, they brought charges of "indecent chanting at a designated football match" against 11 people. Their ages ranged from 13 from 54.
Four of the 11 Tottenham fans to be charged pleaded guilty and they were fined and given three-year football banning orders. The magistrate likened them to a "pack of animals". The remaining seven pleaded not guilty and they face trial in May.
"The arrests woke up a lot of people," said Campbell, "because some people just thought 'I never thought it was wrong' – that's unbelievable – [or] 'That wasn't me', as if football turns people into some different kind of person. 'I've paid my money and I can say and do whatever I want at any time I want within that 90 minutes'.
"There is a level. You say that on the streets and you'd be arrested or put away. You wouldn't say that to your son or daughter and if that was said to your son or daughter, would you be the same? That's what people have to remember."
Campbell also voiced his concern that Portsmouth had missed the opportunity to establish themselves as regulars on the European stage and were now drifting towards an uncertain future. Portsmouth, who play Chelsea at Fratton Park tonight, are two points above the relegation zone and they remain under the caretaker charge of Paul Hart, after the sacking of Tony Adams three weeks ago. Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Mexico manager, is their No1 choice to take over. "There is a guy that they are out there to get but there are a few sticking points," said Campbell. "I think that's all a waiting game."
Campbell lamented Portsmouth's failure to build on last season's eighth-place finish and FA Cup triumph. The club, which is up for sale, has sold key players and remains deeply in debt. "It's gone now," he said. "In the sense that to get back to the level of European football on a regular basis, it's going to take a big effort over the seasons."
II: The Guardian/David Hytner
'It's quite shocking. If you carry on like that in the streets, you're going to get arrested or start a fight'Sol Campbell has a lot on his mind – racism off the field and relegation on it
Sol Campbell, the Portsmouth and England footballer, visiting his old primary school to launch his new charity, Kids Go Live. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/Tom Jenkins
Sol Campbell thought long and deeply before taking the plunge across north London's football divide. The defender knew that the Bosman transfer to Arsenal in 2001 would ensure he became a hate figure at Tottenham, the club where he had emerged from the youth sides, yet even in his most vivid nightmares he cannot have imagined the full horror of the reality.
The Portsmouth captain reflected upon it, not for the first time, towards the onset of last winter. The images that flashed in front of him might have featured his brother John, one of 12 siblings, who was jailed in 2005 for 12 months for assaulting a man who questioned Campbell's sexuality.
Campbell was sitting inside a police station in Hampshire. On 28 September he had heard the sickening taunts from what the superintendent Neil Sherrington would describe as a "significant number" of the 2,500 Tottenham fans who travelled to Fratton Park for their team's 2-0 Premier League defeat. For Campbell the time for action had come.
The police, having acted upon the complaint brought before them, searched for legal precedent. They found none. The decision to bring charges against 11 supporters for "indecent chanting" represented a bold step that Campbell hopes can be followed by the football authorities. He would like to see them deduct points from clubs whose fans are found guilty of indecent and racist chanting.
One of the many talking points from the events of last September concerns the suggestion of racism. Tottenham and their supporters have argued passionately that the chant in question contained no such undertones, which the police accepted with the wording of their charges. It is disingenuous to say the least that the accompanying accusation of homophobia has been greeted with little more than shrugs. Campbell, though, clearly feels that there is a racist element to the chant and he expressed his anger when he was asked how it made him feel.
"You get on with the game," he said, "but it's quite embarrassing because when you see that some of the teams have got black players themselves ... it's unbelievable, it's strange. I think, 'What do the black players on the other side think?' You know, 'You're OK but we can shout about them.' It's embarrassing. It's a shame."
Campbell says that the charges brought "woke up a lot of people" but for too long he has had his eyes wide open to the vitriol, which starts at a distressingly young age. "They learn from their mother or father and, if that keeps on happening, in the end they just think it's acceptable and the norm," said Campbell.
"It's quite shocking, really. If you carry on like that in the streets, you're either going to get arrested or you're going to start a fight and you might come off worse."
"My mum copes with it all," he continued. "Obviously, she's aware of it but she's strong. She reared 12 kids so she's a very hardy woman. Any mother would get upset but that's only human."
Campbell has a lot on his mind at present and the future at Portsmouth, where Chelsea visit tonight, vies for prominence. From the joy of lifting the FA Cup last May, he finds himself in unsettling limbo. Not only is the club up for sale, the team in relegation trouble and the manager, Paul Hart, a caretaker, but Campbell is among the alarmingly high number of players out of contract in the summer.
"Portsmouth have to look at the whole finance situation before they start coming to players," he said. "They'll probably have to sell [the club] before they start looking at other situations. All the players have to wait and see what the club's prepared to do. You can't do anything until the club is sold or [the owner] stays on or whatever. It's tough because we just needed two or three good players [last summer] and we'd have been up there. We finished eighth and we'd have been up in Aston Villa's position now, there's no question. That's the sad thing about it. We were so close.
"There is potential there at Portsmouth but I really do think they've, for whatever reason ... it's gone now. In the sense that to get back to the level of European football on a regular basis, it's going to take a big effort now over the seasons. We were cruising until we lost all of those players; Pedro [Mendes] and Sulley [Muntari] last summer, [Jermain] Defoe and [Lassana] Diarra in January. If any side lose four good players and don't replace them, you're not going to be firing on all cylinders. It's not rocket science."
When Harry Redknapp quit as the Pompey manager to join Tottenham in late October, the team had won four and drawn one of eight Premier League games. His successor, Tony Adams, oversaw a ruinous run of two wins and five draws from 16. "You have to keep believing but it just kept on going the other way," said Campbell. "When you are eighth and then you are one point off the bottom, it's hard to take. Eighth and then nothing works, nothing. It's unbelievable.
"How long can you go on for? But I think it got sorted before it got really messy. Paul Hart's fantastic, he's straight down the line and [the coach] Brian Kidd has come in, he's really upbeat, he knows his stuff and the lads have responded very well. Everyone is thinking and working in the right direction, especially the training now, it's good. We just have to keep going."
Campbell is determined to look forward with optimism, both on and off the pitch.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/mar/02/david-hytner-interview-sol-campbell-portsmouth-racism-tottenham-hotspur-arsenal
Campbell wants points deducted for fans' abuse• Authorities must act now on indecent and racist chanting
• Portsmouth have missed chance to build on 2008 success
Sol Campbell has called on football's authorities to deduct points from clubs whose supporters are found guilty of indecent and racist chanting. The Portsmouth captain, speaking in an interview with the Guardian, has long been the target of abuse from Tottenham Hotspur fans, who have never forgiven him for leaving them for Arsenal in 2001, and was subjected to vile chants during Portsmouth's 2–0 Premier League win over Tottenham at Fratton Park last September.
"I think that they [the game's authorities] are going to have to do more," said Campbell. "My situation is a small part. But also, you have the racial abuse in the rest of Europe. The only way you can stop it from happening is by taking points from clubs. Then it would definitely stop. If it's just way over the top and you start taking points ... [with] those three points, you can lose the championship or you can be going down. That's the only way you can stop fans' abuse on that type of level.
"There is all sorts up and down the league, there is always someone saying something or part of the crowd saying something to certain players, but there is a level and once that level is crossed, I think people have to step in and sort it out.
"Football seems to think it can keep on going without getting checked. In most other sports on this level, it doesn't happen. You're not going to get that in tennis, rugby, cricket or athletics. It's just not accepted."
Hampshire police launched an investigation into the abuse suffered by Campbell that they hoped would set a precedent. After releasing photographs on the internet of 16 suspects, they brought charges of "indecent chanting at a designated football match" against 11 people. Their ages ranged from 13 from 54.
Four of the 11 Tottenham fans to be charged pleaded guilty and they were fined and given three-year football banning orders. The magistrate likened them to a "pack of animals". The remaining seven pleaded not guilty and they face trial in May.
"The arrests woke up a lot of people," said Campbell, "because some people just thought 'I never thought it was wrong' – that's unbelievable – [or] 'That wasn't me', as if football turns people into some different kind of person. 'I've paid my money and I can say and do whatever I want at any time I want within that 90 minutes'.
"There is a level. You say that on the streets and you'd be arrested or put away. You wouldn't say that to your son or daughter and if that was said to your son or daughter, would you be the same? That's what people have to remember."
Campbell also voiced his concern that Portsmouth had missed the opportunity to establish themselves as regulars on the European stage and were now drifting towards an uncertain future. Portsmouth, who play Chelsea at Fratton Park tonight, are two points above the relegation zone and they remain under the caretaker charge of Paul Hart, after the sacking of Tony Adams three weeks ago. Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Mexico manager, is their No1 choice to take over. "There is a guy that they are out there to get but there are a few sticking points," said Campbell. "I think that's all a waiting game."
Campbell lamented Portsmouth's failure to build on last season's eighth-place finish and FA Cup triumph. The club, which is up for sale, has sold key players and remains deeply in debt. "It's gone now," he said. "In the sense that to get back to the level of European football on a regular basis, it's going to take a big effort over the seasons."
II: The Guardian/David Hytner
'It's quite shocking. If you carry on like that in the streets, you're going to get arrested or start a fight'Sol Campbell has a lot on his mind – racism off the field and relegation on it
Sol Campbell, the Portsmouth and England footballer, visiting his old primary school to launch his new charity, Kids Go Live. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/Tom Jenkins
Sol Campbell thought long and deeply before taking the plunge across north London's football divide. The defender knew that the Bosman transfer to Arsenal in 2001 would ensure he became a hate figure at Tottenham, the club where he had emerged from the youth sides, yet even in his most vivid nightmares he cannot have imagined the full horror of the reality.
The Portsmouth captain reflected upon it, not for the first time, towards the onset of last winter. The images that flashed in front of him might have featured his brother John, one of 12 siblings, who was jailed in 2005 for 12 months for assaulting a man who questioned Campbell's sexuality.
Campbell was sitting inside a police station in Hampshire. On 28 September he had heard the sickening taunts from what the superintendent Neil Sherrington would describe as a "significant number" of the 2,500 Tottenham fans who travelled to Fratton Park for their team's 2-0 Premier League defeat. For Campbell the time for action had come.
The police, having acted upon the complaint brought before them, searched for legal precedent. They found none. The decision to bring charges against 11 supporters for "indecent chanting" represented a bold step that Campbell hopes can be followed by the football authorities. He would like to see them deduct points from clubs whose fans are found guilty of indecent and racist chanting.
One of the many talking points from the events of last September concerns the suggestion of racism. Tottenham and their supporters have argued passionately that the chant in question contained no such undertones, which the police accepted with the wording of their charges. It is disingenuous to say the least that the accompanying accusation of homophobia has been greeted with little more than shrugs. Campbell, though, clearly feels that there is a racist element to the chant and he expressed his anger when he was asked how it made him feel.
"You get on with the game," he said, "but it's quite embarrassing because when you see that some of the teams have got black players themselves ... it's unbelievable, it's strange. I think, 'What do the black players on the other side think?' You know, 'You're OK but we can shout about them.' It's embarrassing. It's a shame."
Campbell says that the charges brought "woke up a lot of people" but for too long he has had his eyes wide open to the vitriol, which starts at a distressingly young age. "They learn from their mother or father and, if that keeps on happening, in the end they just think it's acceptable and the norm," said Campbell.
"It's quite shocking, really. If you carry on like that in the streets, you're either going to get arrested or you're going to start a fight and you might come off worse."
"My mum copes with it all," he continued. "Obviously, she's aware of it but she's strong. She reared 12 kids so she's a very hardy woman. Any mother would get upset but that's only human."
Campbell has a lot on his mind at present and the future at Portsmouth, where Chelsea visit tonight, vies for prominence. From the joy of lifting the FA Cup last May, he finds himself in unsettling limbo. Not only is the club up for sale, the team in relegation trouble and the manager, Paul Hart, a caretaker, but Campbell is among the alarmingly high number of players out of contract in the summer.
"Portsmouth have to look at the whole finance situation before they start coming to players," he said. "They'll probably have to sell [the club] before they start looking at other situations. All the players have to wait and see what the club's prepared to do. You can't do anything until the club is sold or [the owner] stays on or whatever. It's tough because we just needed two or three good players [last summer] and we'd have been up there. We finished eighth and we'd have been up in Aston Villa's position now, there's no question. That's the sad thing about it. We were so close.
"There is potential there at Portsmouth but I really do think they've, for whatever reason ... it's gone now. In the sense that to get back to the level of European football on a regular basis, it's going to take a big effort now over the seasons. We were cruising until we lost all of those players; Pedro [Mendes] and Sulley [Muntari] last summer, [Jermain] Defoe and [Lassana] Diarra in January. If any side lose four good players and don't replace them, you're not going to be firing on all cylinders. It's not rocket science."
When Harry Redknapp quit as the Pompey manager to join Tottenham in late October, the team had won four and drawn one of eight Premier League games. His successor, Tony Adams, oversaw a ruinous run of two wins and five draws from 16. "You have to keep believing but it just kept on going the other way," said Campbell. "When you are eighth and then you are one point off the bottom, it's hard to take. Eighth and then nothing works, nothing. It's unbelievable.
"How long can you go on for? But I think it got sorted before it got really messy. Paul Hart's fantastic, he's straight down the line and [the coach] Brian Kidd has come in, he's really upbeat, he knows his stuff and the lads have responded very well. Everyone is thinking and working in the right direction, especially the training now, it's good. We just have to keep going."
Campbell is determined to look forward with optimism, both on and off the pitch.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/mar/02/david-hytner-interview-sol-campbell-portsmouth-racism-tottenham-hotspur-arsenal