Can racism ever be kicked out of football?

Abused | England Under-21s star Danny Rose hit out after the final whistle at 90 minutes of racist chanting by Serbian fans. (Image | The Guardian)

The recent examples of racist abuse at the highest levels of domestic and European football have sent shockwaves through the sport. High-profile incidents have cast doubt on the instruments of justice and guardians of the game.

Not only this, but the reappearance of racism on what is now a world stage is beginning to undermine all the progress made towards eliminating such egregious abuse – once endemic – from modern football.

All around us politicians, footballers, supporters, victims and others are calling for action to be taken. The question is, who should be taking this action, and what can actually be done to truly kick racism out of football?

It would all be fine if Cisse were here

Djibril Cisse scored within 12 minutes against Aston Villa, showing a poacher’s instinct which QPR have sorely lacked all season.

Djibril Cisse could keep Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League. Jonathan Pearce said he could on the BBC, so it must be true. He has the pace, agility, and goal-scoring prowess to be the perfect foil for Bobby Zamora, and the link up play between the two against Wolverhampton Wanderers was, for all its briefness, rather exciting.

Stupidly, Cisse temporarily mislaid his brain, and received his marching orders for reacting violently to Roger Johnson’s “robust” challenge. Indeed, you might say, it was a rather cowardly act from Cisse. But the £4m man is the answer to our collective prayer, like the metaphorical spring in the arid desert, he could revive our emaciated corpse, and lift Rangers to the heady heights of 16th place.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, so neither should your first team be

Djibril Cisse returned to the Premier League with struggling Queens Park Rangers in one of the more intriguing transfer stories of the day

The January transfer window is a dreadful instrument of greed and stupidity. Yet even worse than the window itself, is Sky Sports’ wet dream, also known as Transfer Deadline Day. It is football’s equivalent of a one night stand. You almost always choose wrongly, sacrifice far too much dignity in the process, can rarely justify your decision, and very soon afterwards regret what you’ve done.

Leaving the often incomprehensibly desperate signings made by clubs in pursuit of silverware or, more likely, as part of a desperate scramble to assemble a team capable of reaching the heady heights of 17th in the Premier League, it is the most hyped, monotonous day on the British footballing calendar.