Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Arsenal's racism stance & Dulux
Every Monday we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT – ARSENAL
A lot has been said about sportspeople taking the knee before matches to highlight racial inequality and fight discrimination.
Back in June, we wrote about the importance of sports stars and brands doing more in the fight against social injustice, but the value of taking the knee continues to divide opinion.
The Professional Footballers’ Association, the trade union for players in England and Wales, said in December that players were “overwhelmingly in support” of continuing to take a knee after its members were consulted.
However, a number of leading players including Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha have stopped taking a knee because they feel the protest is no longer enough.
Zaha commented that he believes the act is “degrading”, while Brentford striker Ivan Toney said: “We are being used as puppets.”
Last month, Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara was racially abused by Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela in the Europa League, with the Czech defender later handed a 10-game ban by UEFA.
Czech minister Vratislav Mynar then criticised UEFA and wrote an open letter to UEFA's control, ethics and disciplinary body: “You have decided on a completely unprecedented punishment for a player who did not harm anyone and only verbally - according to his statement - offended his opponent. You condemn a decent person without a single piece of evidence.
“In your submission, the fight against racism has become the fight of the unsuccessful against the successful, the pinnacle of hypocrisy, positive discrimination, and embarrassing pandering to stupid trends.
“We will not kneel before you and no threats apply to the Czech football fan.”
While the football world deplored the actions of Kudela, the Czech champions made the decision not to kneel before both legs of their quarter-final tie against Arsenal, a club where Kamara spent five years between 2012-2017.
Arsenal’s response was a powerful one led by their captain Alexandre Lacazette, who took a knee directly in front of the watching Slavia Prague players.
Poetically, all four goals scored by the visitors in their convincing 4-0 win were netted by black players, with Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka adding to Lacazette’s brace.
Mikel Arteta revealed that a group of senior players asked him whether they could take a knee prior to the game, with the club and Uefa giving the green light to make the gesture that held added significance on the night.
“They asked me and the club that they wanted to take that initiative,” Arteta said. “They had the right reasons for it, so the club was very supportive. I think it was a good gesture.
“We spoke with the club to make sure we could follow the rules of Uefa and we can do it in the right way. We decided to take that approach, which I really like from the players, and I must say Uefa was very supportive as well. The captains came to me and asked me to do that, and I just supported them like the club did.”
The Arsenal players deserve a great deal of credit for reacting in the way that they did while at the same time letting their football do the talking on the pitch.
Footballers are often accused of lacking self-awareness but coming together to discuss the issue prior to the game showed an understanding of the gravity of the situation and the players were rightly lauded for their efforts.
MISS – DULUX SOCIAL MEDIA GOES ROGUE
Sports sponsorship is big business with Premier League clubs providing profile and potentially a return on the investment made by their partners.
Football clubs are now getting smart to the opportunities to diversify.
Gone are the days when a shirt sponsor was the only commercial partner.
Clubs now have commercial partners for every conceivable category and even multiple partners aligned to different specific target territories.
While it may have seemed random in years gone by, Tottenham Hotspur announcing a partnership with Dulux, the global paint brand, would appear in the face of it to be just another sports sponsorship agreement.
Tottenham made an announcement on their website about the deal and the simple PR stunt of using ‘the world-famous Dulux dog’ by giving him a tour of the stadium and training centre.
Nuno Pena, AkzoNobel Marketing Director for UK & Ireland, said: “Our relationship with Tottenham Hotspur is a perfect synergy of two iconic British brands.
“Together, we are joined by a shared passion for colour. Spurs fans will know only too well the powerful impact putting on their white and blue scarves and shirts has on a matchday, and as a business we’re committed to using colour to transform lives.
“We know it’s the small details that make the difference and give you the competitive edge – in sport and in decorating – and we’re looking forward to expanding on our firm foundations to explore this power of colour together, in both the stadium and in people’s homes, in the years to come.”
So far, so good.
But when it came to social media (yes that ongoing hive of scum and villainy (if you know, you know)) it was an entirely different matter.
One Twitter user responded: “Can the dog play centre back?”
Perhaps trying to create a humorous tone, the official Dulux response was: “He might do a better job Chris 😆.”
Another reply by Dulux showed an empty trophy cabinet, referring to Tottenham’s lack of silverware, having only won one trophy since 1991.
When another pointed out that Tottenham can keep any paint supplies in the cabinet because they “don't seem to put anything else in there,” Dulux replied by saying: “Don't be silly, surfaces should be dust free before painting.”
It appeared as if the then Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho had not been briefed about the new partnership with one of the biggest brands in the country.
When asked about the Dulux dog at his pre-Everton press conference, a game that ended up being Mourinho’s last in charge of the club, he replied: “What’s that?”
The tweets caused embarrassment for both the Tottenham and Dulux and underlined the importance of getting the right tone and context when making online jokes.
The Dulux social media team had clearly not been briefed clearly on what would or would not be appropriate content following the announcement with the posts quickly deleted.
The damage had already been done, though, and Dulux were forced into making a hasty statement on Twiitter: “We’re deeply sorry for the posts from Dulux this morning in response to the announcement of our relationship with @SpursOfficial.
“These do not reflect how proud we are to be the Official Paint Supplier of the Club. We’re investigating what happened and apologise to all Spurs fans.”
To their credit, Tottenham responded with a paint-related joke of their own: “We’ll gloss over it this time...”
In the end, the story may be nothing more than a footnote in the grand scheme of Tottenham’s affairs this season, particularly given their recent struggles on the pitch that led to the departure of Mourinho.
But it’s further evidence of the necessity for thorough preparation, robust safeguards and processes.