We can all agree that racism, domestic violence and animal cruelty are all social ills that ought to be dealt with and condemned strongly. Their perpetration undoubtedly results in a wide array of negative repercussions for the victims and the society as a whole.
Football is an extremely loved and popular sport. Most of us can attest to being die-hard fans of clubs such as Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea, among other football clubs. We cheer them on to win as many trophies as possible in their respective tournaments and love their star players to death.
Football players are beloved individuals and quite a number of players are household names. Such are the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Bruno Fernandes, Harry Kane and many others.
It is because of their status in society that professional football players are required to set a good example and abide by certain moral standards. They are expected to be at the forefront of curbing vices in our society that is why the act of the players kneeling on the pitch before a match is deemed to be an honourable gesture. It surely goes a long way in raising awareness on matters pertaining to racism and players find themselves unified in this course.
Recently, Kurt Zouma, a French football player signed to West Ham football club, made headlines when a video emerged of him hitting his pet cat. He was seen to be kicking his cat across the floor and slapping it in the face.
This act has since been widely condemned, he was fined (250,000 pounds) and Adidas even confirmed that he would no longer serve as their contracted athlete. This type of behaviour was deemed to be unacceptable and in as much as he apologised, the punishment he got was just not enough for some members of the public. A good number of people even called for him to be sacked.
The prevailing question in this regard would be whether such a drastic move is too harsh as a punishment for what he did in contrast to racism. I agree with the notion that there is no competition when it comes to societal vices and that perpetrators should be condemned in equal measure.
Borrowing from West Ham player Michail Antonio, there are individuals who have been convicted for racism and have gone ahead to play football. I think that Kurt Zouma has learned his lesson when it comes to animal cruelty and should be allowed to rise above it and make things right. With this, we thank God that his cats are doing well and healthy.
The reality is that continuous insistence on his sacking and continuous booing as witnessed in the the West Ham’s against Newcastle, is a double standard. The question is, where is this kind of vigour when players are deemed to be perpetrators of racism?
Why were there no fervent calls for players such as Milan Baros, Leandro Desabato and Luis Suarez to be sacked for engaging in racist conduct? In some instances, there was even footage available on the same. I can’t help but ask myself the question of whether Zouma’s case is a situation in which the society just wants to bring a black man down on his knees to the point he can no longer get back on his feet.
Why is it that white men receive a slap on the wrist while black men do not get so lucky? Such inequalities have been prevalent in a society for a very long time and should not be allowed to rear its ugly head in the beautiful game of football.
Most importantly, football federations should not be at the forefront of perpetrating this kind of double standard. It just negates the whole point of football serving as a sport that unifies people of all races and backgrounds. Kurt Zouma should not be cancelled. Period.