The times are changing, the spirit of equality is in the air and the poker chips are down. The Professional footballer’s Association has taken a stance on the resurgence of racial abuse and discrimination in the world of football and they have decided to send a very clear message to all players.
As of the next season, racial offenses will be considered sackable. This is going to be written into all of the contracts of every single player so that there is absolutely no question as to what the policy says and who it affects. Personally, I find it abhorrent that this change is even necessary, but it seems that recent event have proven that we still have a long way to go.
The man behind the proposal of this change, Gordon Taylor, is the chief executive of the PFA and he hopes that this message will be heard loud and clear by all players in the English leagues. He believes that the changes being made to the standard contract will make it obvious how serious of an issue this is and how seriously the PFA is going to handle any situations that have elements of racial discrimination. Taylor believes that any group that does not act to stifle racism within its ranks can be seen as condoning racism. He will not allow this to be the case with the PFA.
There should be no reasonable opposition to this proposal and it should pass without contest. Even if someone were to have issue, to oppose this change has no logical basis beyond blatant racism. Those that oppose the change and those who commit acts of racial discrimination in the upcoming season should go out and buy a nice television, a set of cards and some poker chip sets because watching the game while playing poker is going to be the closest they get to playing in a game for a long while.
