SHAKA Hislop has partially attributed the spate of high-profile racist incidents in football across Europe this season to the “frightening” rise of the far right in politics around the world.
Immigration and border control have been the prominent issues in elections in both the United Kingdom and United States, where Hislop is now based, in recent years.
Hislop, the former Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper who helped to launch the Show Racism the Red Card charity in 1996, believes football fans have felt “empowered” by right-wing politicians.
READ MORE: Bulgaria to play next home game behind closed doors as racism sanction
And the 50-year-old has claimed that right wing populism is the single biggest issue anti-racism campaigners in the game have had to contend with during the last two decades.
“Without question, what we have seen in politics has had a damaging impact on our relations with each other and with people who don’t look like us,” he said. “That has spilled over into football.
“What you have also seen is a rather ridiculous acceptance of the language and rhetoric that comes with far right politics. It is spilling over into how we as football fans support our clubs and what we feel we are empowered to say within football stadiums.
“What we have seen within our politics today is as frightening a single issue as we have had to deal with in the last 20 years.”
READ MORE: UEFA has missed a chance to get tough on racism, claims Kick It Out
Hislop added: “As parents we want to leave this world a better place for our children, to see us all coming together and living in harmony. Then you see this huge shift. It happened suddenly.
“In the last election in the US three years ago, and there has been a similar timeline in the UK, we seem to have stepped back 25 years. It is really concerning after decades of work and trying to rid football of racism. It is concerning.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here