Abdullah Al-Jamili

Al-Madinah

During a recent soccer match between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad football clubs in Riyadh, the Hilal fans chanted racist slogans against the players of Al-Ittihad of Jeddah. These hateful chants  were clearly heard by millions of television viewers around the world.



This was slanderous behavior. The obscenities uttered by the Hilal fans were not only shameful but abhorrent to religion, humanity and national unity. This behavior came from a few fans who comprised irresponsible and uncouth spectators who had no manners. A more serious issue was the reaction of some sports personalities and journalists who were present at the scene but did not reject this shameful behavior or call for punishing these racist fans.



On the contrary, they tried to justify the criminal behavior, not surprisingly in such occasions, saying it was just a reaction to similar behavior by Al-Ittihad fans earlier.



Our national unity is sacred. No one should be allowed to plant seeds of dissension among us by rekindling the fires of religious sectarianism, tribalism, regionalism or racism. There should be awareness campaigns to enlighten people against the dangers of such practices and conducts that might unravel the fabric of national unity. These campaigns should be coupled with serious efforts to punish those who dare to disrupt our unity.



The racist and sectarian utterances of sports fans should not be punished by fines alone, as some heads of the sports clubs are immensely rich and can pay the fines against their fans without feeling any burden. There should be harsher punishments, including a ban on the fans from entering the stadiums, reducing the club’s league points or even downgrading it to a lower division.



The Ministry of Culture and Information should discipline journalists who condoned the behavior of these racist fans and dismiss them from the sports area so as to keep the football grounds clean of racist viruses.