Football 'lacks backbone' to tackle hate

The Scotsman has today reported that Nil By Mouth have accused Scottish footbaall of lacking the courage needed to kick racism and sectarianism out of the game.

Anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth is meeting today with SNP MSP James Dornan to discuss strict liability in the Scottish Parliament. 

This is already in place in England and allows clubs to be punisehed with fines and points deductions for the behaviour of their supporters. 

Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson, is now considering introducing the measure follwoing violence at the 2016 cup final between Rangers and Hibs.

Dave Scott, campaign director for Nil By Mouth has said: 

“We’ve been campaigning for Uefa’s strict liability principles to be introduced into Scottish football since 2013 when the clubs tried to brush the idea under the carpet at a Scottish Football Association (SFA) AGM.

“Since then we have witnessed numerous instances of violent, sectarian and racist behaviour at matches and the Scottish Government’s own advisory group [called] for the game to sign up to strict liability.

“Added to the tens of millions of pounds of public money Scottish football benefits from each year, this is clearly too important an issue to be left to clubs and governing bodies with neither the backbone or appetite to act.”

There are now efforts taking palce to build cross-party support for Mr Dornan’s proposals.

James Dornan MSP said: “The vast majority of supporters only want to see the match and not have to listen to the nonsense they often have to put up with.

"I look forward to working with supporters of all clubs to ensure that any legislation that may eventually come about will be of the highest standard.”

Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/nil-by-mouth-football-officials-lack-backbone-to-tackle-hate-1-4578525