Kick Racism out of Football Writing

I’m not sure if you saw Bryce Johns’ item in the Herald on Sunday the other week.  46 year old Bryce Johns reckons football was more "manly" when he played but now he’s about “to start walking from the sport” because the game is full of foreigners who cheat.

Bryce Johns singled out a number of Auckland City FC players and said they were cheats simply on the basis of their foreign names.

A respected expert in this area wrote to Bryce Johns pointing out the racist elements of his item.  Bryce Johns’ response was that because he has “a 25-plus year writing background”, “more than 20-years playing Northern and Central soccer”, “an NZS coaching badge”, “coached 1^st XI school teams” etc this somehow entitles him to make racist comments.

Obviously Bryce Johns isn’t aware of Professor Paul Morris’ research into diving and simulation in football:-

“Diving is stereotypically thought of as a 'foreign' behaviour by certain sections of football supporters and media in the UK. When the discussion of simulation is raised, it is often accompanied by an overseas name and rarely that of an Englishman. Dr Morris completely refutes the idea however that diving is more culturally accepted in other countries outside of England and also rejects the suggestion English players are less likely to dive than their foreign counterparts.”

“This behaviour (diving) has no national boundaries; everyone does it, it even occurred unprompted during our research trials," he jokes. "Diving does seem to have become more common in the last few decades in English football, but the fact there has been an increased influx of foreign players into the Premier League during that time is purely incidental. One can point to the fact there is now far greater technology to analyse games, people see football in a far different light than they used to. Sure, there are players that seem more likely to dive, but their nationality cannot be considered a factor. This is purely individualistic behaviour we are talking about."

Below are links to some resources so that you can be more informed than Bryce Johns, The Herald on Sunday, The New Zealand Herald, APN etc.
Show Racism the Red Card
Football Unites, Racism Divides
Let's Kick Racsim Out Of Football
NZ Race Relations Commission