AFTV founder says racism in football can be snuffed out overnight

Robbie Lyle, the founder of Arsenal Fan TV (AFTV), has voiced his concerns over the insufficient efforts made by football governing bodies, UEFA and FIFA, in combating racism within the sport.

In an interview with Kwaku Nhyira Addo on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (13 February), Lyle emphasised the need for decisive action to tackle racism effectively.

Lyle criticised UEFA and FIFA for what he perceives as a lack of seriousness in addressing racism in football. He highlighted the stark contrast in their response to issues such as the proposed Super League, where stringent measures were swiftly implemented to deter clubs from participating.

According to Lyle, the same level of urgency should be applied to eradicate racism from the sport.

“When it was the Super League thing, and for instance, UEFA feared that all the clubs were going to break away now and go and join this big Super League, they even threatened players, saying to them that if you go to the Super League, you’ll never play for your country again. It wasn’t even the players’ decision to come up with the Super League,” remarked Lyle.

“But then, with racism, now they’ll be like, well, actually, what we’ll do is we’ll close the stadium for a week. If you took it as seriously as took the Super League breakaway, you’ll just turnaround to certain teams and say to them, listen, if this racism continues at your stadium, you’re banned from all Champions League competition or, as a matter of fact, it’s our competition, and we say that everybody in there should be equal, so if you are going to have fans that are racists, then you are not welcome in this competition.”

He proposed tangible steps that could be taken, such as banning teams with persistent racist incidents from prestigious competitions like the Champions League and imposing point deductions as punitive measures. Lyle believes that hitting teams where it hurts the most—their standings and financial interests—would compel them to address the issue more proactively.

“There is lots of measures they can take that would cut it out because if you own a football team and you think you’re going to be docked 10 points for racism, you will make sure that problem is sorted because it will hurt the bottom line. So if they really took it serious I think they can stamp it out almost overnight.”

Despite acknowledging improvements since the 1980s and 1990s, Lyle stressed that racism still persists in football. He emphasised the ongoing need for vigilance and concerted efforts to eliminate racism entirely.

“I spoke about what it was like to go to football, like in the late 80s 90s, and the racism was horrendous compared to now, where its improved so much. We go to games every week, we go up and down the country; you don’t really see much of it at all, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t gone away; there is still incidents of racism.”

Asaase Radio 99.5 broadcasts on radio via 99.5 in Accra, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 100.3 in Cape Coast and on our affiliates Azay FM 89.1 in Takoradi, Bawku FM 101.5 in Bawku, Bead FM 99.9 in Bimbilla, Somua FM 89.9 in Gushegu, Stone City 90.7 in Ho, Mining City 89.5 in Tarkwa and Wale FM 106.9 in Walewale
Tune in to broadcasts online: asaaseradio.com, Sound Garden and TuneIn
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
Live streaming on facebook.com/asaase99.5. Also on YouTube: AsaaseXtra.
Join the conversation. Call: 020 000 9951 or 059 415 7777. Or WhatsApp: 020 000 0995.
#AsaaseRadio
#TheVoiceofOurLand
#WeAreHere
#WeLoveOurLand