True Football Fans Should Stand With Raheem Sterling

Raheem Sterling has lashed out at the British media, blaming them for fuelling racism in football in the country.

The City winger suffered racial abuse at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as he retrieved a ball to take a corner, with the whole incident being caught by the TV cameras. Sterling was then seen to be laughing as the abuse continued, while later saying he ‘had to laugh as he expected nothing better.” Sterling later took to Instagram to highlight racism in the media.

Using headlines about two fellow City players, Sterling showed exactly how the media differentiate between black and white players. Tosin Adarabioyo and Phil Foden had both bought houses in excess on £2m, but the headlines reported both very differently, highlighting Adarabioyo’s wage and that he hadn’t started a Premier League game, where Foden’s was nothing of the sort.

And Sterling is absolutely correct.

The difference between the two headlines is absolutely astonishing, and surely it isn’t coincidental that the headline that focuses more on wages and appearances is associated to the person with black skin, and it is about time the media were called out on this. There seems to be an incessant dislike of young, black footballers in this country, and as Sterling said, it is being fuelled by the media.

Sterling is one of the best players in the City and England squads, and should be prepared to come under fire if his performances are not up to his standard. But it seems that nobody told the media, who have enjoyed focussing on Sterling instead of the performance of the entire team.

Indeed, Sterling has been at the centre of huge media attention himself. During the summer, he was targeted by the media for tattoo of a gun he had inked on his leg, but has also been targeted for buying his own mother a house, buying clothes in Primark, flying by Easyjet, not cleaning his car and eating breakfast to name a few. The full thread can be seen here.

Today, Raheem Sterling took the brave step and spoke out against the media and we, not just City fans but true supporters of the game, 100% support him. I have today seen comments from supporters of many other clubs, which have also included United and Liverpool, supporting the City and England man.

Now it is time for these fans to start using their mouths and reporting incidents they here at the grounds. They may well be follow supporters, but there is no room for racism in today’s game, no matter who you support. And as the footage from Saturday showed, the racial abuse Sterling suffered was shouted with a black Chelsea fan stood just a few feet away. How must he have felt, listening to these men abuse the youngster?

Whilst it is true that the media cannot be held directly responsible for the idiots who abused Sterling on Saturday, their words are having a profound effect on a lot of supporters, who are simply too stupid to think for themselves, and instead the media do it for them.

Hopefully, Raheem Sterling’s words will now inspire others to call out media outlets and it is up to us supporters to help identify those responsible and report it. Football rivalry is one thing, anger and hatred is another. Let’s get it kicked out for good.

With Raheem we stand.