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It's no secret that European soccer has had it share of racial incidents over the years, and the incident in Vienna is the latest.
Last week 50 Bosnian soccer fans broke into a chant of “Kill, kill the Jews!” during a pro-Palestinian rally in Vienna’s central Saint Stephan’s Square.
The incident took place as the Bosnian national team prepared to play the Austrian national team.
According to Der Standard, citing a spokesperson for the Viennese police, the Bosnian fans joined the rally uninvited. Even though this latest incident didn't take place at the game, it's still another black eye to soccer and soccer fans around the world.
Although, some said that's not what they were saying.
In the past, ethnic players have been called monkeys, and fans have chanted racial slurs and carried signs with racial slurs on them. Some players said that this happens all the time, and that it's especially bad in places like Italy.
"Some of the fans have always had this reputation," says a Frenchman who plays in Italy. Racism is not just happening in Italy but in other parts of Europe as well.
In Poland, fans threw bananas at a Nigerian soccer player and made fun of him, and even French politicians got into the act when their national team won the World Cup, saying the team was unworthy because most of the players weren't white.
So, what can been done about this? Not much, at least to the fans, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested one way to curve some of these incidents is to penalize teams.
"We must deduct points, relegate a team [to a lesser division]," Blatter said. "The moment we have the courage to do that discrimination will end."
That is exactly what the English Leagues do and time will tell if this type of punishment will be implemented in other leagues, or if it will take a major incident before any changes occur.
