Kick It Out Campaign gets 'Kicked Out' by Jason Roberts

 

Football News 24/7

Reading striker Jason Roberts will not wear a 'Kick It Out' T-shirt in protest at what he perceives to be the campaign group's lack of action in combating racism in football. The player, who is also a regular pundit on BBC radio 5 Live made the announcement earlier today in the wake of the news that John Terry will not appeal his recent ban.

Kick It Out's annual week of action starts on Thursday and players have traditionally worn shirts promoting it.

But referring to incidents involving John Terry and Luis Suarez, Roberts told BBC Sport: "I won't wear one.

"I find it hard to wear a T-shirt after what has happened in the last year."

There is a growing feeling that the authorities have not come down hard enough on Terry.

Fuel was added to the fire last weekend despite the lack of top flight action. Oldham's Lee Croft has denied abusing a ball boy in the match at Sheffield United, but investigations into the incident are still ongoing.

On top of that, the desperate scenes at England's U21 game in Serbia have highlighted the fact that the problem is not confined to these shores. Whilst most of the flash point Roberst refers to have happened on the pitch, the scenes in Serbia were the outpourings of a national bigotry that UEFA need to get to grips with. It is not the first time the Serbs have been at the forefront of racial allegations.

Meanwhile the Kick It Out week of action still looks set to recive the support of clubs in the Football League, Premier League and SPL as well as at grass roots level.

In an effort to make their own position clear Kick It Out chair Lord Herman Ouseley has released the following statement after Chelsea captain John Terry's decision not to appeal against his four-match ban for racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand.
 
"Kick It Out welcomes the apology from both Chelsea FC and John Terry. We are disappointed there hasn't been an acknowledgement in it, of the hurt experienced by the many people caught in crossfire during the past 12 months.
 
"It does however form the basis of bringing closure to the matter sometime in the near future.

"There are still some questions unanswered which all associated bodies need to address if we are to reach a position where players and fans have trust and confidence to believe any form of unacceptable conduct is dealt with swiftly and effectively in future.

"In particular, attention will have to be given to support provided to victims in such circumstances, the most obvious example being players and families involved in the fallout from Serbia this week.
 
"Kick It Out looks forward as we enter the One Game, One Community weeks of action, working with all players, clubs, fans and partners to enable their commitment to equality and diversity and fair treatment across all levels of the game to be demonstrated."

JB