Football’s silence on racist chants in Argentina is deafening and condemning

The telling bit in the video, where Enzo Fernandez and other Argentine players sing a racist song about France after their victory in the Copa America final, is the voice you hear just at the end.

“Corta (el) vivo,” says someone – “stop the livestream.”

They know. They know what they’re saying. They know what they’re saying is deeply offensive, and they know what happens when the outside world hears it.

This is not something that is ambiguous. It is not something that can be denied. The words are clear and we know the words because it is a song that has been around for a few years.

The lyrics of the chant were: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passports say French.”

The song in question came from a group of Argentine fans before the 2022 World Cup final, which was at the time branded by French anti-racist protesters as an “expression of far-right ideology”.

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To be fair, it’s bad enough that Argentina, presumably isolated from a PR perspective by their World Cup win, didn’t try to distance themselves more from the song, but the fact that the players seem to have incorporated it into their celebrations is even worse. If nothing else, it speaks to an unpleasant collective mentality and pervasive culture that a group of players, in a moment of triumph, would choose this song as part of their celebrations.

It’s also worth noting, without wanting to detract from the blatant racism, the transphobia that also plays a role here. The full lyrics of the song refer to French players who are “cometravas, like Mbappe.” “Cometravas” is a slang term that essentially translates as “someone who has sex with transgender people.”

Football in general has taken positive steps to make the game more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. Players who actively choose not to participate in anti-homophobia campaigns are thankfully rare, and those who do are often punished – such as Monaco midfielder Mohamed Camara, who was banned for four games after covering up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt last season.

However, such songs do not help and actually undermine efforts to make football more inclusive.

But as if the song itself and the musicians’ cheerful willingness to sing it weren’t depressing enough, the aftermath was almost as bad.

Fernandez himself offered something of an apology, claiming that he “got caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations” and that the song “did not reflect my character or beliefs.” He also said, rather laughably, that “I am against discrimination in all its forms.” Let’s just say that when he is inevitably forced to take part in some kind of anti-racism campaign in the coming weeks or months, his words will ring hollow.

Chelsea themselves responded in a fairly responsible manner by issuing a statement outlining their own position and values, saying they would use this as “an opportunity to educate” and that they had started an internal disciplinary procedure.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of that trial. If Fernandez was a fan and was caught singing that song in the Stamford Bridge stands, he would be facing a pretty lengthy stadium ban.

But otherwise it is very quiet.

Chelsea’s French defender Wesley Fofana called it “rampant racism”. Ivory Coast striker David Datro Fofana posted a statement on Instagram saying “racism in all its forms must be condemned in the strongest possible terms” and that the fight against racism “must be taken seriously by everyone involved in sport”.

David Datro Fofana has also condemned the incident (Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

The last bit feels the most pertinent. Because aside from those two comments, plus a photo Nicolas Jackson posted of Fernandez hugging a black child, the meaning of which is open to interpretation, not much else has happened.

Only black players have publicly acknowledged the incident so far. No white players have condemned the song. Perhaps some of Fofana’s white teammates have privately expressed their support, but so far nothing more has happened.

As will be depressingly well-known, it is the black players who have to do the emotional labor, the mental baggage of dealing with a racist incident. It reinforces the idea that racism is only a problem for black people, when in fact it is a plague that shames us all. It isolates the black players, suggesting that it is not something anyone else needs to worry about.

Imagine the power that would be created if a white player stood up, unasked, and condemned the song. It would be a valuable symbol, but it would be more than just a superficial thing. It would have real meaning.

The clubs of the other players in the video have, at the time of writing, decided not to comment. It is, to be honest, a bit difficult to definitively identify who exactly is singing in the video, but everyone seems to be doing their best to ignore the issue completely.

Maybe we can give them the benefit of the doubt and say that eventually they will talk to their Argentine players and remind them of their responsibilities — not as footballers or representatives of a club, but as human beings. But right now it seems like they are just hoping the whole thing is over.

While it is difficult to identify the individuals doing the singing, anyone who sat in silence while such a racist song was being sung could probably be held accountable. The least we can expect from the clubs is that they acknowledge the incident, that they will investigate it and that if it turns out that one of their players was involved, they will be given the appropriate punishment.

Chelsea are the only club to have said anything so far, but we don’t need to praise them extra: after all, they couldn’t have prevented it.

Elsewhere, though, crickets. Despite all the glossy campaigns and well-meaning initiatives and solemnly shot “No to racism” UEFA videos, when so much of the sport is silent at times like these, the idea that football is serious about tackling racism is very hard to take seriously.

(Header photo: Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)