At last we are getting somewhere. Portsmouth have finally – five days after the event – have said they will now make a complaint to the Sweet FA over the abuse aimed at Sol Campbell during last Sunday’s Portsmouth vs Tiny Totts game.”Both Sol and the club feel no player should be subjected to personal abuse of this nature and that it has no place in football,” said a Portsmouth statement.
“The club will be urging the FA to look into this as a matter of urgency and will co-operate fully with any investigations that take place either by the FA or by Hampshire Police, who are conducting their own investigation.”
So the muddled mess continues. Hampshire police said they could do nothing because too many Tiny Totts fans were involved in the abuse. Then they said it was up to the Sweet FA. The Sweet FA said they could not act unless Portsmouth asked them to. Then Portsmouth said they could not act unless Sol wanted them to.
Now the police say they would investigate claims of racial and homophobic abuse aimed at Sol.
So the circles revolve around the circles around the circles. Whether this is the moment when finally, ultimately, the evil that is within the Tiny Totts club is dealt with, we will find out over time.
The Police are quite right to say there’s not much they can do, short of arresting the entire away section, and it’s clearly up to the FA to act. One of the many things that bug me is this idea that no-one seems to want to do anything unless the victim makes a formal complaint. If a policeman sees someone put a brick through Tesco’s window does he wait for a complaint from the Managing Director? More extreme – what about when someone is murdered? Of course some offences are entirely personal and then it may be appropriate to prosecute only if the victim wishes to, but that should never stop the relevant authorities from at least investigating the offence. However offences of this nature are about more than just the immediate target. Most decent people who heard or read what the Spuds morons chanted at Sol Campbell would be offended. Most gay people and anyone living with HIV/AIDS would be particularly offended at the pathetic Campbell=Gay, Gay=HIV, HIV=AIDS, AIDS=Death vitriol.
The FA are quick to complain to FIFA and/or UEFA if an England player is abused on international duty but are they seriously trying to tell us that they would only have complained about the abuse Emile Heskey received from the Croatian crowd last month if Emile himself complained? Of course not! The trouble is that the FA don’t seem to be able to see beyond their precise rules. They have legislated against the specifics of abuse based on race, gender, disability and sexuality but how under this code would you deal with the abuse directed at Arsene Wenger, particularly by the Mancs and Spurs? They need to go wider and legislate against offensive behaviour in general – and then start using that legislation. Clubs have to take responsibility for their fans and that starts with hitting them in the bank balance. Make offending clubs pay for the away allocation next time they travel but don’t allow them to sell/distribute the tickets. Persistent offenders should face playing one or more home games behind closed doors and most importantly NO LIVE TV!