VISION

AUDIO

1. Ifshaan getting ready for the match

- BAME fans and their relationship with the game

- Historic anti-asian abuse

A few quick stylised shots of Ifshaan playing football

DAY06 C1

02:46:45 Ifshaan and Imran walking onto pitch

02:54:30 Ifshaan slomo run

Up-tempo music

Upsot sounds of the game

In England, football is more than a game…

Stylised shots of Ifshaan getting kitted up in Middlesbrough FC clobber

DAY02 C2

00:27:00 puts scarf on

00:47:00 combs beard

00:50:50 puts hat on

THOUGHT TRACK 01:49:59

Ifshaan: I can't imagine my life without football.

Just the feeling of 30,000 people together chanting for one team, that feeling is indescribable

DAY02 C2 00:55:20 – 01:14:35

Tight shots of Middlesbrough FC memorabilia, flags, scarfs, jerseys and photos in Ifshaan’s bedroom

For supporters like Ifshaan Mahmoud, it’s a way of life…

3^rd party UGC taken from YouTube channels – mostly from the perpetrators of the racism

We use this same vision later in the film, where we date and source the material

But like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the beautiful game can’t shake its ugly side

Upsot: racist chants, rowdy hooligan crowds

Clip 1: booo

Clip 2: get up you cunts

Clip 3: man making monkey gestures

Clip 4: fucking muslim cunt

Clip 5: Sieg heil!

Fuelled by hooliganism, racism, Islamophobia and online hate

Quick cuts between shots of fans at Russia 2018

Later this year, the game’s global showpiece, the FIFA World Cup, will be watched by over one billion people

The advertising blitz already well underway

YouTube World Cup PROMO Upsot (non-SBS)

With its image on the line now more than ever – what’s being done to remedy football’s racist reputation?

TITLE GRAPHIC

Football’s Racist Reputation

By Darren Mara, Simon Phegan

Establishing M’boro GVs

It’s Saturday – and in the north of England -   Middlesbrough FC has a crucial match in the country’s second tier competition, the Championship

Ifshaan greets Darren at his door

In situ chat with Ifshaan as we walk through the house to the backyard

DAY02 C2

01:33:00 Ifshaan greets Darren at the door

01:34:12 reversal and convo

I’m meeting one of the club’s biggest fans

UPSOT hellos

Darren: Big match today

Ifshaan: Yeah massive match, three points today keep the playoffs alive. It’s been six years since we last got promoted

Darren: So much on the line

Ifshaan: Yeah we need to win today

Darren: Do you ever miss a match?

Ifshaan: No we plan everything around the fixtures, we travel up and down the country

Darren and Ifshaan walking into backyard

Darren: Oh wow you’ve even got your own football pitch

Ifshaan: yes, we’re football crazy

01:41:38 Family kicking ball around

01:40:24 Darren asks Ifshaan’s 5 year old niece as she watches them play

Darren: who’s the best?

(Niece points to Harris)

Ifshaan, Darren and family leave house together

01:48:39

01:48:56

01:48:34

After the warm-up, it’s time to get to the main event

Imran: Have you got the tickets?

Ifshaan: I always knock on wood before a match

Darren: For good luck?

Ifshaan: yep

All: Up the Boro!

NEED TO SEE MORE PICKS OF MIDDLESBOROUGH

VO For Ifshaan and his family, it’s the beginning of a long day full of rituals

2. Pre-match mosque prayers

- How the community relates to football

- Koran torn up at a match – response to that

INT Mosque begins to fill, men praying, shoes on shelves

00:34:45 – 00:36:43

00:48:12 – 01:06:15

01:12:20 little boy prays

Upsot call to prayer

00:38:03:15

Darren and Ifshaan walking along street outside mosque

Walk into mosque together

Ifshaan

Yes. So this is my place of worship. So we come here on a match day to prayer which generally takes place around 1:30-2 p.m. so fitting into a match day perfectly

DaZZa

So your two passions in life. You've got your faith and your football.

Ifshaan

Yes, they’re a way of life really. And of course family as well

Darren: yes, the three Fs

DAY01 C1

00:48:23

Upsot: imam singing

Middlesbrough is home to the largest Muslim community in England’s northeast and it’s grown rapidly over the last 20 years

It’s relationship with football could best be described as complicated

00:38:30 – 00:39:15

Ifshaan, Amjid and family praying

IV with Ifshaan inside mosque

THOUGHT TRACK

00:41:48:04 - 00:42:13:18

Ifshaan

I think historically the game has had a lot of hooliganism, and I think that stigma is really carried through the generations. So I think obviously my father, he liked football, but he hasn't really been inclined to go to the stadium because of that stigmatism of hooliganism in the past

DaZZa

So has he been afraid to go?

Ifshaan

You could say he's been afraid

00:48:12 – 01:06:15

GVs men praying

Man on ground reading Koran

VO

With Islamophobia on the rise, tensions in the community flared in 2014 when three Middlesbrough supporters ripped up and appeared to burn pages of a Koran during a match

Other fans were shouting and chanting

00:48:12 – 01:06:15

GVs men praying

IV with Ifshaan in mosque

Ifshaan franken-grab here

THOUGHT TRACK

DAY02 C2

02:08:23

Ifshaan: there was outrage at the time

BUTT TO DAY01 C1

00:43:51:05 - 00:44:14:06

Ifshaan: Why would someone take a book of worship into a stadium just to antagonize a population and actually burn, burn it, tear it, in front of the camera to make a point?

THOUGHT TRACK

BUTT TO DAY02 C2

02:08:38

Ifshaan: I think it upset the whole BAME community as a whole

The term Ifshaan uses, BAME, is shorthand for black, Asian and minority ethnic

00:45:35 - 00:46:55:19

IV with Ifshaan inside mosque

Ifshaan

I think that's highlighted underlying tensions within the community …

…I think people feel like they have more freedom to express their views. And obviously since Brexit there's been an uptake in the percentage in hate crimes, majority of them being racism crimes.

3. Pre-match for Danny Chapman M’boro fan

- How do white working class football fans feel about racism in the game?

- They articulate why they love football and what they’ve seen

01:28:27 – 01:29:43

Fan GVs outside stadium

Standing around drinking beer

Upsot fans outside stadium

Darren talking to Danny in crowd outside stadium

AS FANS POUR INTO THE STADIUM, I leave Ifshaan to MEET LIFELONG MIDDLESBROUGH SUPPORTER DANNY CHAPMAN

FOR HIM -  RELIGION AND FOOTBALL ARE ONE AND THE SAME

IV with Danny outside stadium

01:20:26

Darren

Would you say this is your house of worship?

01:20:27:21 - 01:20:45:15

Danny Chapman

Oh yeah definitely. Yeah we drive down the A6, the main road next to this stadium, and you go ‘oh there’s church’. For us, it's every Saturday you’re going. If you're not traveling away to watch the Boro then you’re coming home.

A fan interrupts interview to shout ‘up the Boro’

01:24:25 – 01:25:25 fan GVs outside stadium

01:22:28:20 - 01:23:36:20

Upsot fan interrupts interview – ‘3-nil Boro. Riley McGree hat trick, we’re going up!’

Danny: Up the Boro

DaZZa: So you’ve got passionate fans like that, right? And then you've got another element in the crowd which might be a bit more antagonistic towards people of diverse backgrounds. Right. That racism does exist in the game.

Danny Chapman: It does, yeah, definitely.

BUTT TO

Danny Chapman: Certain areas in the country where certain people won't feel comfortable going there. Like I know certain away games, certain coloured people, certain ethnic people won't travel there because of what's going on.

NEED TO START THE GAME SEE Vision of people going on and crowds roar…

NEED to also see picks of the community.

As this community has changed Danny and Ifshaan can see there are underlying tensions that are rising to surface…..

CROWD ROAR – some kind of sot…

5. Racism explainer

What racism and hooliganism looks like

slo-mo (deidentified) of fans walking to a game, slow mo deidentified park football

DAY01_C1

00:13:10 – 00:15:15

CCTV cameras at stadium

Most clubs monitor for racism and hooliganism on match day

But many incidents fall through the cracks .. .and it can manifest like this

3^rd party YouTube clip UGC

This CLIP SHOWS THE abuse of Liverpool star Mo Salah, who plays for Liverpool in the premier league

Upsot abuse: Salah you fucking Muslim cunt

3^rd party YouTube clip UGC

And HERE A FAN CAPTURED more abuse of Salah after another match

Upsot abuse: Salah is a bomber

3^rd party YouTube clip UGC

THIS SOCIAL MEDIA POST SHOWS ANTI-SEMITISM

Upsot chant: Singing I’ve got foreskin, haven’t you? Fucking jew

3^rd party YouTube clip UGC

This post abusive chants against a black player

Upsot chant: His dad washes elephants and his mother’s a whore

3^rd party YouTube clip UGC

And this post is anti-South Asian

Upsot chant: I would rather be a Paki than a scouse

THE PLAYER – LOUIS SAHA

LOUIS SAHA PICK UP INTERVIEW

VO It’s racism experienced not just by fans – but players too

THOUGHT TRACK SOME OF THIS USING THE UGC AS OVERLAY

Louis: (17:01)
the link between hooliganism and, and, and the, the football racism, uh, towards the, the players, um, is, is very strong

Louis: (17:33)
and football platforms for that is the best they go into streets. They go into pubs, they get drunk. Uh, all this is, uh, is, is a ultimate events for them.

QUICK BREATHER

GVs FROM LOUIS SHOOT – PLAYERS TRAIN AT THE FIELD

Quick upsot to set the scene

00:01:30 – 00:02:00

LOUIS CUTAWAYS AT THE FIELD

00:00:00 – 00:00:50

FROM LOUIS’ SOCIAL MEDIA

As a professional footballer, Louis Saha experienced racism up close and personal

3^rd party – GETTY IMAGES

As a 25 year old, Saha was thrust onto the world stage when he signed with arguably the world’s biggest club, Manchester United

TWITTER GFX

He later moved to Everton where he was targeted on social media with this racist post

LOUIS SAHA PICK UP INTERVIEW

Louis: (07:24)
This, uh, experience, um, was still shocking.

Louis: (09:17)
when you attack me, attack my family to attack, uh, people who are, who are, um, not concerned about football. So whatever that they think that is a way to disrupt your game or disrupt your, your focus on, on your football. It's not normal.

I like this grab:

Louis: (07:35)
So I felt like it was stupid, but I needed to address it in a, in a very, uh, sensible way to make them react that it’s not something to do. Whatever is online is not a game. It is not funny. 

Louis: (08:40)
I didn’t feel like the, let’s say the society, but the institution, the clubs, or whatever were ready to actually, uh, do something

France football GVs

And it wasn’t just in England.

Saha also experienced racism playing in Italy

He says football across Europe and globally is creaking under the weight of racism

LOUIS SAHA PICK UP INTERVIEW

Louis: (11:53)
is way more aggressive. I would say in Italy, in Spain, uh, in France

Louis: (24:04)
you need a strong, strong support from institution, from clubs, from the town, from the government in so many, so many ways. Those guys who are deciding who can make the change are hiding. They’re hiding because it's costing them money. They’re hiding because it’s taking time, it’s taking change of legislation.

Louis: (11:40)
So many other countries in Europe are not addressing it

3^rd party OWNED BY UEFA

And not just at club level

The European Championships and World Cup have also been impacted.

As this clip shows, Nazi salutes at a Euros qualifier in Bulgaria in 2019 – which was stopped twice by officials

FACT CHECK

3^rd PARTY

This footage shows monkey chants at a World Cup qualifier in Hungary last year

FACT CHECK

LOUIS SAHA PICK UP INTERVIEW

CAN THOUGHT TRACK THIS IF THE UGC ALLOWS

Louis: (12:19)
because of the fame, because of the moment the hype of the euros, everyone is talking about it. Uh, they find, uh, this way to, to upset those guys, uh, by their color,

DAY07 C1

Wembley stadium shots

It culminated last year, after the European Championships final at Wembley in London - racism that shook the game to its core – and sparked a national outcry in England and around the world

3^RD PARTY APPROVED RTV

Three England players – Marcus Rashford, Bakayo Saka and Jadon Sancho - were subjected to a tidal wave of online racial hate after missing crucial penalties in the final against Italy

Louis: (1 3:50)
I think what happened during the, the, the whole tournaments, uh, every player, uh, from any team has been abused.

Louis: (14:19)
So England, especially, uh, going to the final, uh, those three players, uh, as I said, three black players miss their penalty. It was again, an easy target, uh, for, for racist. Uh, people is not even supporters. The, some of them are just like, again, super aggressive, super, um, uh, yes, attention grabbers.

Louis: (30:06)
if racism is getting stronger

BUTT TO

it won't be stopped

Euro final hate speech analysis

How online racism against England played out

DAY04 C1

01:25:25

Darren walking up groovy stairs

At the University of Cardiff, a team led by Professor Matt Williams has been analysing the social media racist attacks against those three England players last year

01:23:29

Darren greets Matt

00:51:42:15 - 00:52:00:00

Darren and Professor Matt walk into the Hate Lab visualisation room

THOUGHT TRACK

00:19:21:21 - 00:19:32:10

Matt

I mean, most players come in for some flak when they underperform but when it's a black player underperforming, they very often have their identity targeted and it's very negative and in this case, very deeply racist way.

Visualisation lab GVs

00:03:57:00 - 00:04:22:16

Matt

So we see here Italy scoring the equalizer.

And this is where we start to see the hate speech increase

BUTT TO

00:08:29:23 - 00:09:10:20

Matt

So we see this humungous spike in hate speech around the first penalty miss.

And we see hate speech posts reach about about 380 per hour at the maximum there.

And that continues as the misses keep coming. And it's all anti-black hate speech. It's targeting Rashford, Sancho and Saka specifically, either directly targeting them or on Twitter, but also on on Facebook and Instagram.

And that lasts until around midnight after the match

12:06

00:12:37:16 - 00:12:42:01

DaZZa: So Matt, what was the nature of the abuse these players were subjected to online.

00:12:42:12 - 00:13:12:09

Matt

What you can see here is particular keywords to particular slurs, racial slurs, being very, very prominent.

00:13:12:09 - 00:13:14:03

DaZZa

Some of the worst hate speech you could really, come across.

00:13:14:03 - 00:13:40:05

Matt

Yeah, it's pretty ugly stuff really.

BUTT TO 00:14:16

And what we find is we're about 50% of accounts saying they’re in the UK were the ones that were sending the hate speech. The remainder were coming from outside the UK.

GVs Darren scrolling through social media on phone

A police investigation led to a handful of arrests and a few prison terms in the UK – but the online abuse coming from abroad remains unpunished

Matt and Darren continue chat

00:16:04:08 - 00:16:29:01

DaZZa

So it begs the question, how does FIFA protect players across international jurisdictions at a global event like a World Cup

00:15:01:24 - 00:15:33:14

Matt

It's a huge problem. It's a huge problem that requires a lot of coordination between governments, between the social platforms themselves, FIFA and the players.

00:16:22

so it's entirely plausible that at the Qatar World Cup later this year, we could see the exact same racial abuse that we witnessed last year in the euro final.

Matt

Unfortunately, yes. And we entirely expect to see it.

Middlesbrough v Stoke at Riverside Stadium

Creation of Boro Fusion

What it’s like in a stadium as a South Asian

A recent survey by anti-racism group Kick it Out highlighted the abuse Matt speaks of

(DRONE SHOT)

It showed 71% of fans had witnessed racist comments on social media directed at a footballer

While around half had seen racism directed at another fan

(MIDDLESBROUGH STADIUM FANS WIDE)

But it’s not just online

One third said they’d heard racist comments or chants at a match

01:30:00 – 01:35:15 GVs int stadium, kids cheering, team mascot, Ifshaan’s family pitch-side, grandstands filling up pre-game, safety steward

01:35:20 – 01:42:10 kids Ifshaan and his brother stand pitchside as kids wave flags

Upsot crowd inside stadium cheers

Back in Middlesbrough, it’s halftime and I’ve found Isfhaan at the game

He tells me being in the crowd can be confronting as a person of colour

DAY01

IV Ifshaan Amjid and Darren in stands

02:01:03

Ifshaan: You experience it now when the football players take the knee and there's booing around the stadium, which for me is intolerable, really.

Option 1 - 3^rd party YouTube UGC

Many players began taking the knee as a statement against racism during the black lives matter movement

But as this clip from 2020 shows, even that became divisive

Upsot boos “Get up you cunts”

With many fans booing rather than supporting the players

DAY01

IV Ifshaan Amjid and Darren in stands

IFSHAAN

It upsets me quite a lot, because taking the knee is how the players want to express their support for movements against discrimination in the game.

… my question to the people that do boo is, what is the alternative?

Darren phone GVs of Ifshaan and Amjid in stands

DAY01_IPHONE_006 – 013

Boro Fusion stills

So in collaboration with the club, Ifshaan and his friend Amjid Khazir created a special supporters group to act as a voice for the BLACK ASIAN AND MINORITY ETHNIC community,  they called the group Boro Fusion

THOUGHT TRACK THIS GRAB

DAY01 C1

00:44:32:13 - 00:44:53:00

Ifshaan: One of the aims of Boro Fusion is to obviously break down barriers, obviously tackle the racism problem, get more of the BAME community feeling like the stadium is a safe environment for themselves.

Darren phone GVs of Ifshaan and Amjid in stands

VO But Amjid, says diverse supporter groups and safe spaces can only go so far

Darren, Ifshaan and Amjid in grandstand

02:01:55

Amjid: Education is the key. People don’t understand what BLM is. People don’t understand why we’re so passionate about anti-racism. When they’re booing taking the knee it shows how much more work needs to be done to educate people about racial and social justice – not only in the UK and in our town but right around the world.

BUTT TO 01:53:51

Darren: Ifshaan, does it feel like you come to a match with a certain amount of baggage because of that?

Ifshaan: Yeah, you come to a match and you think, can I really express myself? If I do express myself, will I experience any form of hate?

Darren: You feel like you make yourself a target?

Ifshaan: Yeah, you’re on edge.

GVs during game

Upsot stadium atmosphere .. a goal is scored … a bit of atmosphere

DAY01 IPHONE

00:07:17

Some actuality around celebration

On the other side of the stadium, I catch up with Danny Chapman

Upsot Danny celebrates goal, shouts, sings

I want to know how he views the racism and the uneasy divide in his football community.

In situ Qs for Danny Chapman as he watches the match surrounded by shouting supporters

THOUGHT TRACK 01:22:57

Danny: It should never have come to that

BUTT TO 01:23:05

Danny Chapman: It should be that anybody in any area of any country should be able to come, walk into a stadium and support – or even just watch the football, well not even support, just be able to watch the football

BUT IS THIS DIVIDE A HANG UP FROM HOOLIGAN culture

00:09:11:13 - 00:09:17:06

Danny Chapman: The hooliganism is more of a tribal thing. It's this is our patch, that’s your patch. And I think that’s more to do with the old school generation. And a lot fans trying to be territorial. Sort of like the alpha male. Where the racism.. you tend to see more racism on the social media side of things.

DaZZa: But there must be some certain attitudes towards non-white people engrained in that hooligan community?

Danny Chapman: I’d say there is… You see a lot of them with the far right groups going on the marches, and racism chants, and it's all white power … but you don't see them in the stadium singing their chants.

Darren: but they say once people get out of the stadium that's where the racism comes out because there aren’t the consequences of getting a season ban.

Danny Chapman: Yeah, that could be. I know that happens, especially on away days … And there's no consequences and people still believe they can get away with it

Back to Prof Matt Williams

The Why? Hooliganism and racism links

Quick breath

MATT WILLIAMS IV grabs

GVs of various football fans here

Professor Matt Williams has identified three main hate speech culprits in football

-       The first he calls mission offenders

01:00:30

They kind of are the full timers. They're the individuals that live by a code that's hateful in some way.

BUTT TO 01:00:41:18 - 01:01:01:11

Matt

They are small group. They would make up those kinds of hooligan groups

-       Next Defensive and retaliatory haters

01:01:28:04 - 01:01:48:03

Matt

These are individuals who essentially react to their territory being invaded

-       And thirdly, thrill seeking haters

01:02:05

Those that embark on hateful discourse because it seems like something others are doing and it seems like a fun thing to do in the moment.

DAY08_C1

Fans walking to stadium

04:37:41:18 – 04:38:00

04:40:01:09 – 04:40:10

Upsot fans singing and using abusive language

Research from the Radicalisation Awareness Network shows far-right groups continue to see football fans as fertile grounds for recruitment

MAN HOLDING SIGN WHICH MAKES ISLAMOPHOBIC CLAIMS

Upsot - 02:52

Man shouts E-E-EDL.. E-E-EDL

In 2009, the English Defence League formed …

Upsot 00:28 – 00:31

“We’re all together.. nothing to do with football hooliganism”

…as various hooligan firms coalesced under a single banner opposing Islam

Upsot grab Tommy Robinson - 03:25

“We are reintroducing patriotism, Britishness, Englishness.”

And More recently, a group called the Democratic Football Lads Alliance … accused of peddling anti-Muslim bigotry and attracting thousands to rallies around the UK

Sit down IV with Matt Williams

Can overlay with more from DAY08_C1

Perhaps more de-identified here so as not to implicate anyone in the crowd as a hooligan or far-right

00:55:59:16 Matt

So this in-group out-group dynamic is actually what we identify as a key ingredient to hatred in society more generally. So this notion of us versus them, and that is something that's embedded into the game itself

BUTT TO 00:58:48

and it is starting, I believe, to bleed out into more general fans

AMJID’S TALE

DAY06_C1

Far-right targeting football hooligans

Amjid saying hello and bumping fists with u-16s players at start of workshop

VO But some are fighting back – by trying to start a conversation

Workshop actuality

01:46:39:02

Amjid: Assalamu Alaikum Barakat.. none of you speak Arabic, the words I’ve just spoken in Arabic translate to may the peace and blessings of God be upon all of you

Workshop GVs

ALT GRAB

Amjid – who I met at the Middlesbrough football match - is holding an anti-extremism workshop for the club’s under 16s team

AMJID SIT DOWN IV

THOUGHT TRACK 00:52:44:05

Amjid: We started them after my Uncle Zabir passed away. He was assaulted in 2011 by a young man who was formerly a football scholar himself.

Workshop actuality

01:48:39

Amjid: Who’s heard of the EDL? English Defense League? Tommy Robinson? The far right had marched in this town, the first time they've come this far north in more than 20 years they marched in Middlesbrough in 2011.

Workshop actuality

Amjid tells the story to the boys

01:48:57

My uncle Zabir, taxi driver, picks up a fare

01:49:37

And as my uncle turns around to face forward he strikes him over the back of the head with this bottle of Becks

01:49:57

My uncle is injured and he’s bleeding from the back of his head and the lad, what we can only presume goes through his mind next is, I haven’t done enough damage. So he runs back to where my uncle is stood, jumps off both feet and fly kicks my uncle in the chest, a drop kick.

01:50:31

Six weeks after that incident, my uncle Zabir died of a massive double heart attack. And they found a message the lad had sent on his phone – and I won’t use the language here today – but he basically said he was going to do a Pakistani person in.

01:22:15:04

Amjid: We have charged language on immigration post-Brexit, post Black Lives Matter. We've had issues of racism on the increase post-covid, Chinese communities have been blamed, immigrant communities have been blamed, Jewish communities have been blamed

BUTT TO

If we don’t address this we are going to have an issue of people fighting in the streets

Workshop actuality

02:11:00 Amjid hands out post it notes to the boys in the workshop

02:19:00 Boys reading out their answers

Amjid: I want you to write down one value that means something to you

Upsots: Boys read responses.

“Respect”

“Humble”

AMJID SIT DOWN IV

THOUGHT TRACK 

THOUGHT TRACK  01:19:12

Amjid: I think we have to get away from this sloganistic approach, kick it out, you know, wearing t-shirts, all well and good. But is the message actually being heard by the people?

01:17:37

Amjid: There does seem to be some elements and some clubs too. It's just lip service. It's ticking a box, it's a post-it on the wall

Dateline approached over a dozen professional clubs and only Middlesborough FC would speak with us

Amjid says for his strategy to work, all clubs must be a part of the discussion

Workshop actuality

Club liaison officer Barry talking to group

In situ Q from Darren

02:32:30

Barry: we had a racist incident here with one of our boys and he failed say anything for two years. Then we eventually broke down and told his mum, and his mum contacted the club, Alan and I

02:34:35

Darren: does it alarm you to know there are thousands of football clubs across this country and if that experience that young player had here is replicated across the country, how much of it might be going unreported? 

02:34:50

Barry: yea probably like an iceberg …But if we as a football club are happy to share that we’ve had issues, I think that’s massively important

THOUGHT TRACK

BUTT TO

if one person can be taken off that trajectory, on that pathway of hate, that could save so many lives. This is literally about life and death.

Mile End London

Racism at the grassroots

Scene setter

Spray painter in tunnel

04:22:27

Squirrel on tree

04:18:27

Upsot: match play

Football has a fight on its hands against racism

And not just in the professional game

DAY08 C1

04:21:40

Darren PTC

I want to know if the racism problems at the elite level are mirrored at the grassroots level. So I’ve come here to Mile End football pitches in East London. It’s pretty much the essence of grassroots community football

6-a-side game in cages

04:03:10 two players collide

Upsot matches… player runs into gate, person walks past and closes gate

Imrul Gazi – his racism story

Discrimination engrained in the grassroots system

6-a-side GVs

There’s a push for greater diversity at both the elite and amateur levels of football

But some say the change is coming too slowly

Imrul watching games + matchplay

THOUGHT TRACK 03:02:09

These kinds of subconscious biases are still around whether we want to hear it or not. But that's the truth. And if you think there's racism in at the top level of the game, just imagine what it's like at grassroots because this is this is society. This is community.

Darren and Imrul walk n talk

Imrul Gazi used to manage a team called Sporting Bengal here at Mile End – it’s one of the UK’s biggest clubs for South Asian players

Darren and Imrul walk n talk

03:02:43:11 - 03:02:53

Imrul: And it's a very different type of racism here in 2022.

DaZZa: What's different about it?

Imrul: It's not so much in your face

BUTT TO 03:03:01

it's the way someone might look at you, the way they might talk to you. Look, talk down to you not little things like you go to shake their hands and they won't shake your hands.

VO In 2019, Imrul’s team were on the receiving end of what he says was some of the worst racism he’s ever experienced

But it wasn’t coming from the usual source

03:04:52:23 - 03:05:34:21

Imrul: this wasn't players, this wasn’t an opposition management, this wasn't supporters in the stands, these were officials

VO Officials employed by the local league, but ultimately part of England’s national football association, the FA

Imrul shows Darren the footage on his phone – over the shoulder shot

03:15:06

So there's my assistant, there's me running onto the pitch.

3^rd party UGC

Upsot 5:15 match incident – coaches and players swearing a lot and getting angry

Imrul showing Darren phone

03:13:23

Imrul: So where it all started was the linesman said to one of my assistants and my staff …he said it a few times, ‘why is it you lot always have to make noise.’

DaZZa: You lot being you South Asian players?

Imrul: It's a way, the tone, and all evening he'd been saying things to us right and it was a tone in which he said it

BUTT TO

Imrul ..at that stage. That player ran over to me, grabbed me by my shirt, says, Ims, come here. ‘Say that again’. He went to the ref, ‘Say what you just said to me again. Say it again’. And the ref is like, just started smiling and walked away.

UGC to be provided by Imrul

Imrul walked his team off the pitch, citing covert racism from the officials.

LYN’S SUGGESTED VO CHANGE
He lodged a formal complaint with the local FA, which found the assistant ref guilty of improper conduct

But Imrul says the process of reporting was so gruelling he ultimately stepped away from the game.

03:05:37

Imrul: We were the victims, yet it seemed during the whole process that we were the guilty party.

BUTT TO 03:07:08

I think it's come to a stage not just with me, with most incidences of racism in grassroots football, people just don't bother reporting it

DaZZa

So a lot will go unreported?

BUTT TO 03:07:51

Imrul: I would never report incidents of racism ever again because of the heartache and the time and the effort that goes into it.

DARREN AND IMRUL SIT DOWN TO TALK

Cut with shots of football in the cages

DaZZa: So where does the buck stop? (DARREN REVERSAL @ 03:46:45)

Imrul: The buck ultimately stops with the authorities.

DaZZa: With the FA?

03:28:01:17 - 03:28:27:24

Imrul: With the FA, with the professional clubs. They have a massive role to play in this.

VO But with racial tensions charged - and the world cup on the horizon – I want to know where Imrul thinks this could all lead

03:50:22:20 - 03:50:37:09

Imrul: If we get to a semifinal and we get the likes of Saka, the likes of Sterling taking the penalty and they miss, 110% you will see exactly what happened in that European Cup final. I have absolutely no doubt. It’s sad.

FA RIGHT OF REPLY HERE

Wembley GVs

In a statement to Dateline the FA said it “stands firmly against all forms of discrimination”

It’s launched new research to gain feedback on discrimination reporting processes in grassroots football

It’s working with the UK government and social media platforms to tackle online hate faster

Football bodies at the national, European and global levels all impose various sanctions, fines and bans to combat online abuse and anti-social behaviour at matches

CLOSING GRABS

CUT TO EXT FOOTBALL PARK

Ifshaan and mates play football

DAY06 C1

Upsot sounds of the game

Football remains the world game and a universal medium that cuts across country, culture and language

It’s inherent ability to break down barriers rather than erect them remains

It’s that message - advocates say – which must carry the day

Sit down IV with Amjid

BUTT TO 01:22:15:04

The world is going through a reckoning of where polarization and xenophobia need to be tackled head on and … football has the power to deliver anti-racism message and anti-hate message which for me no other sport or no other medium at this time can do

LOUIS SIT DOWN

Louis: (29:28)
If, uh, racism can’t be tackled

Louis: (26:56)
I think the consequences can be, uh, could be massive, uh, in a way that, uh, as I said, uh, family, uh, will choose other sports. We, uh, watch, uh, our sport differently … not going to the stadium anymore, because it's is too violent. It's not an environment that I want to see my kids grow up

Ifshaan grab pitch-side after match

Ifshaan: We need to engage more with the community, And not just the fans in the terraces.

try to get people in power at each level of the game. I think that’s the only way it can be saved.