Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Thierry Henry & The National League
Every Monday we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT – THIERRY HENRY
There has been much debate in recent weeks about the value of sports stars taking the knee.
Players and broadcasters make sure they push messages about the importance of equality and the fight against racism, but we have seen lately some players refuse to comply because they are seeing no progress.
Crystal Palace and Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Zaha, for instance, said that he will no longer take the knee before matches because he feels it is “degrading” and isn’t leading to real action on racism.
While discourse on racism and equality is certainly a step forward, there remain doubts about the progress being made on and off the sports field and in society in general.
Social media is one area in particular where racism and trolling are rife, with so many black players in particular facing racist abuse, even from their own ‘fans’.
Recently, Swansea midfielder Yan Dhanda hit out at social media companies after he became another victim of online abuse on Instagram.
South Wales police launched an investigation after Dhanda received a private message following Swansea’s 3-1 defeat against Manchester City but the player criticised Facebook, which owns Instagram, for not being proactive enough. The account holder was prevented from sending direct messages “for a set period of time”.
The former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry, decided this week to take stronger action, deleting his social media platforms until greater action is taken to address the racism that pervades those channels.
Henry, who recently left his role as head coach at Montreal Impact, has 10 million followers on his Facebook page, along with 2.7m on Instagram and 2.3m on Twitter.
He said: “Hi Guys, from tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright.
“The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. There HAS to be some accountability. It is far too easy to create an account, use it to bully and harass without any consequence and still remain anonymous. Until this changes, I will be disabling my accounts across all social platforms. I’m hoping this happens soon.”
Speaking on CNN, Henry added: “It's not a safe place and it's not a safe environment. I wanted to take a stand on saying that it is an important tool that unfortunately some people turn into a weapon because they can hide behind a fake account.
“I'm not saying it's not good to have social media, I'm just trying to say that it has to be a safe place.
“Basically, I did what I felt and I hope it can inspire people to do the same thing if they feel the same way.”
Oliver Dowden, Minister for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), said nobody should be forced to disable their social media accounts due to abuse.
He commented: “Social media firms must do more to tackle this and we are introducing new laws to hold platforms to account,” he said.
“This is complex and we must get it right, but I’m absolutely determined to tackle racist abuse online.”
But where is the deterrent when Patrick O'Brien, 18, sent 20 messages to Ian Wright on Instagram after losing a Fifa video game match in May 2019.
The teenager, who blamed his loss on picking Wright as one of his players, was given probation rather than a criminal conviction when the case came to court in February.
Wright said: “It seems to be a fad now - a black player plays poorly, or they think they've played poorly, and they come with all the emojis, or whatever it is.
“There are ways of being able to catch people. I don't think they [social media companies] are vigilant enough, nowhere near. How much do they really care deep down?
“Seeing this judgement, I can only wonder what deterrent there is for anyone else who spouts this kind of vile racist abuse.”
The social media platforms make promises and declarations about how seriously they take online abuse, but until they take consistently more robust action and legal punishments better reflect the pain and suffering caused by trolling, the problems will endure.
MISS – THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
The Covid-19 pandemic has had huge ramifications on sports clubs of all shapes and sizes.
Professional and amateur football clubs in the UK are one such group that has suffered severe financial losses, largely stemming from a ban on spectators from attending matches.
While elite teams have been able to fall back on other income streams such as broadcast and sponsorship revenue, professional and semi-professional non-league sides have been left to fight for their existence due to the lack of matchday income.
With the cost of hosting matches and paying players often outweighing money coming into clubs in the absence of fans, some sides have been forced to take drastic measures including the postponement of fixtures.
Last month, the National League confirmed that clubs would not be fined or have sanctions imposed on them for non-fulfillment of matches during the Covid crisis, news which was largely welcomed by clubs.
However, the League has since reversed its decision and imposed fines and suspended points penalties on several clubs across the National League, National League North, and National League South.
It is a decision that has shocked many with critics arguing that enforcing financial penalties on clubs for deciding against playing matches behind closed doors because they lacked the money to do so makes little sense.
Every organisation should have the right to change their mind or approach should circumstances change, but it must be communicated clearly and this move by the league could be viewed as trying to profit from something that is out of anyone’s control.
Dover Athletic have undoubtedly been hit hardest by the National League’s decision after they were expunged from the competition for failing to fulfil their fixtures.
The Kent club have only played 15 times this season compared to at least 25 by the rest and they will play no further part in the current campaign having had their previous results wiped out.
They have also been handed a 12-point deduction to start with next season and a £40,000 fine for being in breach of league rules.
Dover's owner and chairman Jim Parmenter shared his grievances with Sky Sports News: "We have been hung out to dry and made an example of to the rest of the league with this draconian punishment. They are trying to implement a rule book that is not designed to deal with issues like a pandemic.
"We've stuck our necks out while there are seven or eight other clubs in a similar situation scared stiff of the type of action the league has taken against us.
"We have demonstrated we cannot afford to continue, nor finance a loan, so how does issuing us with a £40,000 fine help football?"
The National League's statement read: "The panel had regard to financial information provided by Dover Athletic and fully respected the responsibility of the club's directors under company law. However, the panel also had to consider the integrity of the competition and the actions of Dover in relation to the other 22 Clubs that continue to incur much costs as they fulfill their fixtures.
"In view of the current financial situation and in order to reflect the approach taken in other cases of breaches of rule 8.39, the independent panel reduced the initial fine by 20 per cent to £40,000."
Dover were not the only side impacted by the decision, with National League South side Dulwich Hamlet taking to social media to express their shock at being fined £8,000 and given a suspended eight-point deduction.
“Solidarity to the other clubs affected, sometimes you wonder why you do this in the first place. We'll work together for the good of the game and hope that change is swift,” the club tweeted.
The past 12 months have been an incredibly uncertain time and this has invariably led to difficult decisions having to be made, but the National League has made a series of mistakes in how it has communicated with its clubs and stakeholders.
Alongside ensuring the health and safety of players, coaches, officials, administrators, and spectators, the National League should be trying to do everything in its power to ensure all 66 clubs stay afloat, but that has clearly not been the case.
This sorry tale underlines the importance of regularly communicating with all stakeholders to explain why decisions have been taken and to avoid any unexpected shocks or U-turns that will have long-term implications.