Aluko: "Dressing rooms are multicultural, managers are multicultural and football should lead the way in terms of how it punishes racism."
Thursday 11 June 2020 15:17, UK
Former England striker Eni Aluko says football can lead the way in the fight against racism and called on UEFA to bring in tougher punishments.
Thousands of people have taken part in Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with Raheem Sterling among the host of footballers who voiced their support.
In 2017, following a long legal dispute, Aluko received an apology from the FA for discriminatory remarks made by former England head coach Mark Sampson on the grounds of race.
She hopes footballers will continue to speak out against racism to try and force change.
Aluko told The Football Show: "Football can set a really good example. We have players in the Premier League from all over the world. Dressing rooms are multicultural, managers are multicultural and football should lead the way in terms of how it punishes racism.
"One of the issues we are seeing with the George Floyd murder is the fact that police just get away with it.
"That shows injustice in the way in which racism is dealt with.
"In the same way in sport and football, authorities don't always deal with it and impose the proper sanctions.
"I've said this many time before, the minute the likes of UEFA come down really hard on racism, it won't happen as often.
"I know clubs obviously come down hard with banning fans, and banning them for life, but from a wider point of view a deterrent system needs to be created.
"This could really set an example for the world and for sport."
Aluko has been heartened by the reaction and support of the Black Lives Matter movement and hopes a line has been drawn in the sand.
"We have a tendency sometimes in sport to just be in our own bubbles and not really understand what's going on in the wider world and how it impacts on us," she said.
"The mere fact we're talking about it now, that teams in Germany, players in England and all around the world are waking up and talking about really serious issues, as uncomfortable as they may be, it's really important. That's the only way change is going to happen.
"Racism to a certain extent is a mindset, it's an internal thing that then perpetuates itself externally. As long as people are aware and understand and are seeing their role models talking about a serious issue, they can then start to confront some of the things they don't maybe understand, or some of the mindsets that make racism a problem.
"It's been really pleasing. All I hope is it's not just a social media campaign or PR exercise. I hope it's something where a line has been drawn in the sand and from this point onwards, people really take these serious, disappointing issues around race and in sport seriously."
