Tackling the ugly side of football

World Cup success united France behind Zidane, left, and a multi-racial team

By CNN's Simon Hooper

LONDON, England (CNN) -- European football should not have a problem with racism. From the Champions League downwards, the game is rich with talent from across the globe.

Yet the image of positive integration on the pitch is often compromised by an ugly backdrop of racist banners and chanting among supporters.

In Italy, it remains common for black players to be jeered.

Lazio, the Italian champions in 2000, were fined six times last season for racist abuse at visiting teams. Banners displayed by supporters on the notorious Curva Norda section of Rome's Olympic Stadium have included swastikas and tributes to Benito Mussolini and the Serb warlord Arkan.

One of the few reported recent incidents of racism between players also involved Lazio. Sinisa Mihajlovic was forced to issue a public apology after Arsenal's French midfielder Patrick Vieira complained of racist taunts by the Yugoslav defender.

RESOURCES • Latest football news   • Lazio club news

Giambattista Pastorello, the owner of another Serie A team, Verona, where racism from fans has prompted several punishments for the club, hinted that his efforts to buy Cameroon striker Patrick M'boma were thwarted because some supporters would not accept the signing.

Brendan Batson, the deputy chief executive of England's players' union, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), says racism in the game has come from the stands rather than the pitch.

"It's never been a problem among the players," he explains. "Football is a good example of a well-integrated industry. What has been a problem over the years is racial abuse being directed at black players.

"As more came to the fore it seemed to incite more racial abuse."

England has made strides to tackle the problem and Batson believes the explicit racism which he and other black players encountered in the 1970s and 1980s has largely been eradicated.

This was partly due to the breakdown of the hooligan culture among English clubs during those decades. But more directly there was a successful campaign called Kick It Out, launched in 1993 with the backing of the Commission for Racial Equality, the PFA and other football organisations.

"It's made grounds a more welcoming place because it's now unusual to hear that overt racist chanting of a few years ago," says Batson.

"It's really put the issue of racism on the agenda and given it a lot of exposure not just in football but also in wider society."

The Kick it Out model is now being imitated across Europe, with closer links between campaigns forged through the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network.

In Italy, anti-racism campaigners recently scored a significant victory when players at Serie B side Treviso, fed up with the abuse dished out to Nigerian teammate Schengun Omolade by their own supporters, painted their faces black in a gesture of solidarity.

Italy's parliament has also introduced legislation to combat the display of racist banners at matches while Lazio and Verona have taken positive steps to tackle the issue among their supporters.

Lazio have sponsored Kenyan side Nanyuki Top Life and has also invited Maccabi Haifa of Israel and ASEC Abijan of the Ivory Coast to play in a "Friendship Tournament" in September.

Club president Sergio Cragnotti said: "The players are tired of seeing their success spoilt by the ugly behaviour of a few supporters.

"They are not real fans if they confuse passion for our club with anti-semitism and racism. Their attitude has heavily influenced our recruitment campaign."

Cragnotti has been good to his word, bringing in black Brazilian defender Cesar, while Verona's signing of Colombian midfielder Johnnier Montano was also squarely aimed at the club's racist support.

'Unworthy'

Batson is further encouraged by initiatives like world governing body FIFA's inaugural anti-racism conference, in Buenos Aires in July, and European confederation UEFA's $570,000 donation to FARE.

"The authorities now recognise this is an issue they can no longer ignore," says Batson. "It's taken them a while but I'm very grateful they're taking this seriously."

If football needs further motivation in its fight against racism, it need only look to the achievements of the French national side.

Victories at the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships have united a country behind a multi-racial team which in 1996 National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen said was "unworthy" of representing France.

That Zinedine Zidane, the iconic figure of French football success, should be a son of Algerian immigrants and the poverty-stricken projects of Marseille has done much to undermine Le Pen's politics.

And with black players like Italian Fabio Liverani, Germany's Gerald Asamoah and Poland's Emmanuel Olisadebe breaking through into traditionally all-white national sides, there remains hope that meritocracy on the pitch will lead to more enlightened attitudes in the stands.