09 Dec 2020 14:00:21
All the discussions of taking the knee being relevant or not just got an answer from Paris. Clearly as relevant as ever.

1.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 15:10:13
how? the person identified someone by saying 'the black person. ' I cannot see how that's wrong unless you want the word black removed from the dictionary. This is an incredibly slippery slope.

{Ed001's Note - again another who doesn't understand. The reason why there are N words that should not be used is because they are used in a derogatory fashion. They have been used that way for hundreds of years now and a match official appointed by UEFA is instructed in these things. There is no excuse. None of this nonsense about it is a Romanian word is acceptable because the officials are expressly instructed to ONLY use English while officiating in European football. This kind of instance is exactly why they are to only use English.}

2.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 15:48:47
Imagine if the official said a derogatory term used to describe a person's sexuality or religion. Some people seem to be stuck firmly locked in idiot closet racist mode.

3.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 16:56:57
Ed001 I think that's the issue. In the press they aren't writing the term used and its being implied that the official said 'its the black guy' whereas its the N term that caused the offence.

4.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 16:57:38
The romanian official spoke in his native language. The word, black in Romanian is very similar to the offensive word, but it is not the offensive word.

I must admit, I have not listened to it, but I did read John Barnes having his bit today and he is on the side of the official.

{Ed001's Note - again, how many times do I have to stress this, they are not allowed to converse in their native tongue while on European duty. They all speak excellent English and there was no need for him to use any word that could possibly cause offence.}

5.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 17:08:07
Ed1 - I do understand your point, but there is room for a discussion to say that the man needs to understand how it sounds.

At the champs league final in Madrid, my mate Ahmed (a black or Egyptian heritage) and I were having a beer with a Romanian before the game and we ended up having the same conversation. starting from WTF did you just say to - ok - just be aware, here is what it sounds like to us, so please be very aware.

Id hope officials are more aware, but hoping they are is not the same as them being aware.

{Ed001's Note - that is a completely different situation. Utterly unrelated. This is a man who is under instruction to speak English and suddenly it is claimed he is using his own language when the word is seen to be offensive. He knows he should be speaking English, why change language for this word? He didn't struggle to find a word and say it while trying to come up with the correct English word, he just used that one word.

What John Barnes is saying is nonsense because he is completely forgetting that officials are under instruction to speak only English to avoid any kind of misunderstanding.}

6.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 17:24:51
Your point is valid if it is one word that he spoke in Romanian, not the whole sentence. As I say, I have not seen the video, only read bits today.

{Ed001's Note - even if it is the sentence, he is not to speak in Romanian while officiating to avoid misunderstandings. He knew that but still swapped to Romanian. At best he was trying to be sneaky about what he was saying, when the point is that everyone is supposed to use one language for transparency reasons. Everyone then knows what is going on. Instead he chose, at best, to hide what he was saying from other people. So there is a problem there no matter what.}

7.) 09 Dec 2020
09 Dec 2020 18:04:12
Funny how this apparent 'cultural misunderstanding' hasn't happened before despite Romanian officials having reffed Champions League, Europa League and Euro and QC qualifiers for years.

Coincidence, I'm sure.

8.) 11 Dec 2020
11 Dec 2020 15:59:39
The real question, redhead100, is would the official have identified another player in such a way. If this official was prepared to use a players skin colour to identify him then do we have a recording of him using ‘white’ to identify a different player.
If not, then any other discussion is redundant in my opinion.
Black football players and of course the wider black community have been subject to this treatment now for centuries and if walking off of the field of play is what it takes to change this then so be it in my humble opinion. I would rather see real change on a very important topic that extends far beyond the confines of a football stadium.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse, we all have a world of information at our fingertips.

9.) 11 Dec 2020
11 Dec 2020 16:47:58
You simply cannot be allowed to address people by their skin color esp. black people. The history behind using that word is one of bigotry, discrimination, stigmatization and denigration of their existence. This is not hard to grasp YET many succeed in being incapable of grasping a simple historic concept.