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Should footballers who are subjected to racist abuse walk off the pitch and force abandonment? Almost everyone has had an opinion on this issue following Kevin-Prince Boateng's reaction to abuse in AC Milan's friendly with Pro Patria, but clearly there is no right or wrong answer.
Similar to Sir Alex Ferguson's criticism of Rio Ferdinand following the Manchester United defender's decision not to wear a 'Kick It Out' T-shirt earlier in the season, it seems inappropriate that two white pensioners should take centre stage to discuss the 'pros' and 'cons' of Boateng's actions, if indeed such things can be so easily determined. It's difficult to imagine Sepp Blatter or Silvio Berlusconi truly understanding Boateng's feelings, and yet both have been forthright in their views.
The nature of Blatter and Berlusconi's responses has been replicated across Twitter, comments pages, Internet forums and so on, with many wishing to express their outrage. If it's an incident of racist abuse everybody wants to know what FIFA are doing, what UEFA are doing, what the fine is going to be and what Blatter's saying now. The focus on the actual event is blurred by the race to criticise the game's governing bodies, rightly or wrongly.
But if you were sitting in your home stadium and heard someone shout a racist remark, what would your reaction be? Would your first thought be to blame FIFA? Would you ignore it? Or would you act and censure the perpetrator? It's worth considering your response, because the road to inclusion begins with you, the individual.
The problem for UEFA and FIFA is that racism stretches far and beyond the walls of football. They can clip the branches of the issue by imposing limited sanctions, but the idea of fining a football club for racist abuse committed by its fans is in itself quite absurd. If a dog fouls on the street, it doesn't consider the cost to the owner and neither will people of such disposition be too concerned by their club losing money.
Of course, the only real solution is to focus on the long term and educate fans. In this respect the game's governing bodies can certainly do more and set a better example - not everything can be solved with a handshake, for example, and nor should a nation that outlaws homosexuality look forward to hosting a World Cup.
But the reaction of the football community to a number of incidents over the past 18 months has served to highlight a negligence towards eradicating racism in the individual, not just the bodies at the top of the game. That allegations of racist abuse have frequently been used as a stick with which to beat rival clubs highlights football's twisted morality.
The impotent rage aimed at FIFA and UEFA suggests that many fans feel powerless to help improve the game for the good of everyone. However, by starting with ourselves we can hope to gradually influence positive change. Three-quarters of the Pro Patria crowd made it clear that those abusing Boateng didn't represent the majority, and the Milan midfielder recognised the solidarity by applauding the supporters.
It's united fronts such as this that will eventually eradicate racism. It will take time, but by drowning out the abusers, educating them against the error of their ways and ensuring that we as individuals stand up to abuse, a better attitude to inclusion can be achieved.
Matt Stanger - he's on the Twitter.







