Racism Overload In Football!!

 News has emerged today that the FA have charged Rio Ferdinand with improper conduct and comments relating to race/ethnic origin, making him the 3rd high profile player to be hit with a similar charge in recent times. Luis Suarez was fined and banned for comments he allegedly made to Patrice Evra, Suarez' defence was that he meant the word he used in a friendly way to defuse a potential flashpoint. John Terry was charged for allegedly calling Anton Ferdinand a 'f**king black c*nt', with Terry claiming in his defence that he was merely repeating what he thought he had been accused of saying , a defence that was in my view not totally convincing but was never the less strong enough to put enough doubt over his guilt to correctly result in a 'not guilty' ruling in a criminal court.

 Rio Ferdinand has responded to somebody on Twitter who called Ashley Cola a 'choc-ice', meaning a person who is black on the outside and white on the inside. Ferdinand responded to the tweet with 'hahahaha, choc ice, that's classic'. And Rio has in his defence claimed that it's not a racial term, it's purely a term for somebody who is being fake. Personally I find 'choc ice' offensive on two levels. Firstly I think black people could be offended at the suggestion that they have betrayed their heritage, and secondly white people may be offended that somebody is being told they have the personality traits of a white person as if this is a bad thing. I'm sorry Rio, I have plenty of respect for the way you kept silent during the John Terry / Anton Ferdinand saga, but on this occasion you have claimed a word is classic and funny when it isn't, it's offensive and it has a huge racial meaning.

 I think if Ferdinand is punished by the FA it shouldn't be on the same level as Suarez or Terry as the offence didn't happen on a football pitch during a game, but he is still a high profile role model and should be reminded of his responsibilities. Liverpool got a large amount of negative press for not acknowledging quickly enough the serious nature of what Suarez allegedly said, and Fedinand, in refusing to admit there was anything wrong with what he said, seems to me to be headed down the same path...........