Somtimes a minority can ruin everyone’s good time, and we only hope that’s what happened at Newcastle on Sunday.
Mido today fired back at the drunkards and bigots both verbally and with his feet. Middlesbrough’s Egyptian striker Mwas subjected to a torrent of abuse from the Newcastle fans in the match at the Riverside last weekend. The ‘Boro striker went through what the Daily Mail describes as a “gauntlet of hate†, the away fans repeatedly sang : “Mido, he’s got a bomb you know†and “Mido is a peadoâ€.
Mido, who scored the equalizer in ‘Boro’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle was angered not only by the abuse but also by the fact that he got booked for celebrating in front of the Newcastle away fans. The Egyptian said: ‘
I heard it. It was very clear and I understood what they were saying. Was I offended by it? I don’t know. I just think they were taking the piss. Maybe some of them were drunk or something, I don’t know. I just don’t understand why I got booked. I was told it was for security reasons but I don’t see how that is possible. I don’t see how what I did would affect security of the fans. I just put my finger to my mouth to say, “quiet”. I’m used to it from opposition fans. I just think it was ridiculous. I was really frustrated when the ref gave me a yellow card as I don’t think I deserved it but that is football, I suppose, and you just have to get on with it. The chanting made me want to score more goals. I was very delighted to have scored once and wanted another.’
Mido’s manager Gareth Southgate jumped to Mido’s defence (as well as using a dodgy footballing analogy) after the game…
We had to calm Mido down. It’s interesting that 3,000 people can abuse one person and nothing is done. When the boot is on the other foot, he gets in trouble.”
3,000 people subjecting one man to continuous racist abuse throughout a game, every fans right or unbalanced and wrong?
Middlesbrough fans also joined the outcry, Rob Nicholls, editor of Fly Me to the Moon feels Mido has been unfairly punished and called for some sort of apology from Newcastle. Nicholls said:
‘When he was booked it was made to look like he was inciting the fans when it was the other way around. Everybody watching will not realise why he did that. I think what he did was completely right and I think that everybody has got to stand by him. This goes beyond rivalry. Racism is completely wrong and the paedophile taunt is totally unacceptable. Comments need to come from the club and supporters’ groups to show they are doing something about it.’
We all know from Eric Cantona’s exploits what can happen when players retaliate, and as professional footballers can they really be expected to take such a verbal bashing without striking back in some way?