http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1312539,00.html 25% of Asian football fans face racism Paul Kelso and Shekhar Bhatia Saturday September 25, 2004 The Guardian A quarter of Asian football fans have experienced or witnessed racism at English football grounds, according to a survey of attitudes to the game among British Asians. The survey, carried out by the newspaper Eastern Eye, also confirmed the impression given by Euro 2004 that increasing numbers of Asians felt comfortable backing the England team, despite the history of racism among some supporters. Nearly a quarter of Asian supporters said they had experienced or witnessed some sort of racial abuse at matches but, on the whole, this did not deter them from attending matches. Nearly 60% thought their club was doing something to stamp out racism. A majority (75%) supported England, though Brazil had a significant following, while almost all respondents felt comfortable flying the flag of St George, with several expressing their pride in flying the flag themselves. Despite the increasing presence of Asian fans at club and England matches, reservations remained about the prospects of Asian players breaking through at the highest levels. Most fans believed it would take at least five years for a British Asian to break through at club level, despite Michael Chopra and Harpal Singh making ground at Newcastle and Leeds. There were similar doubts about a British Asian representing England. More than 20 years after Viv Anderson became the first black England player many felt it would be another 10 years before an Asian player appeared in the England team, with 6% convinced it would never happen. The survey also found that Asian people were more likely to support one of the big three clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - than their local team, a fact which should concern some inner-city clubs. Leon Mann, a spokesman for the anti-racism pressure group Kick It Out, welcomed the findings. "There were many positives to take from the survey, such as the reclamation of the flag of St George which was evident at the Euro 2004 tournament this summer," he said. "The fact that 60% of the respondents were aware of the steps their clubs were taking to counter racism is also welcome. However, the fact that 25% of the respondents had witnessed or suffered racist abuse at football matches...indicates that clubs anti-racism work needs to be given more prominence. "What may have seemed striking in the survey was that the respondents could not foresee an Asian player breaking through at their club in the next five years, or into the national team within the next 10 years." He said it was vital to ensure there was a level playing field for aspiring Asian players "so that these same questions get different answers in another 10 years". Amar Singh, the editor of Eastern Eye, said the survey presented a challenge to the game: "The fact that so many of our respondents from England not only said they support England but would fly the flag of St George with pride proves that we will not let a national symbol be tarnished by racists or hooligans. "But we were disappointed that teams such as Leicester City, West Ham and Bradford were only mentioned a handful of times. These clubs must do more reach out to the Asian community in the surrounding areas." 我從以前就很納悶，為何英超沒有多一點亞洲球員（Asian指的是像印度或巴基斯坦 的人）？我是不相信什麼亞洲球員球踢不好這種講法，我覺得中東人跟印巴人柔軟度 其實不錯，說沒法把球踢好就太沒道理。這份調查的結果也是說受調者五年之內不認 為會有多一點亞洲球員踢英超，十年之內不會有亞洲籍的球員入英格蘭國家隊，看英 乙英丙有的球員名字讀起來像是亞裔球員，不過就是不知道為什麼沒有英超球隊賞識。 歐錦杯時我的觀察其實不少亞洲裔的英格蘭球迷跟白人相處蠻融洽的，大概是因為 最流氓的都被限制出境吧。Bradford這地方白人跟亞裔社區的矛盾很深，自從911後 已經爆發幾次大規模的鬥毆與砸店衝突，所以說Bradford的受調者認為幾年內不會有 亞裔球員進該球會也不是什麼意外的事。 --

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