Kick it Out launches phone app to report discrimination
Kick it Out launches phone app to report discrimination
28 May 2013, BBC
Football’s anti-racism group Kick It Out has developed an app for mobile phones so fans can report discrimination at games.
The body took the step after a survey of more than 5,000 supporters suggested at least two thirds had witnessed racist or homophobic chanting aimed at fans, officials or players.
“These incidents when the behaviour of the minority crosses over the line are rare, but we’re encouraging all football fans to download the free app”
Kevin Miles Football Supporters’ Federation
The Tackling Discrimination survey also revealed many fans were unclear how to report incidents and were scared of being singled out if seen to take action.
The app and an online guide to reporting abuse and discrimination will be available to use from the start of the 2013-14 season.
“It will combat the fear that some fans expressed about being singled out if they are seen standing up to discrimination,” said a Kick It Out spokesman.
Reports can be made anonymously and will be sent to the club concerned, with a copy forwarded to the Football Association.
Roisin Wood, director of Kick It Out, said: “The majority of football fans have told Kick It Out they want action to get rid of discrimination at all levels of the game.
“These new reporting tools will allow fans to help clubs and the relevant authorities target instances of discriminatory behaviour more consistently while maintaining healthy and vocal rivalries.”
Kick It Out app screenshot
As well as highlighting a lack of awareness on how to report incidents and the fears that prevented some from taking action, the consultation also revealed:
93% of fans say it is important to do more to tackle racism
75% say that discriminatory language and behaviour and abusive language and behaviour are still a problem in football in the UK
more than three in 10 fans have witnessed racist (31%) or homophobic (33%) chanting aimed at other fans and nearly half have heard racist (44%) or homophobic (45%) abuse aimed at officials or players
47% of all fans had never heard any discriminatory chanting aimed at other fans and 33% had never heard any directed at match officials or players.
90% of fans support ejection from grounds for supporters caught acting in a discriminatory way, 82% support season-long bans, 67% support compulsory education courses from the club and 63% support life bans from the ground.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Federation, said: “These incidents when the behaviour of the minority crosses over the line are rare, but we’re encouraging all football fans to download the free app and read the reporting guide, so if they are ever in that situation, they are clear on what to do.”
The survey was supported by the FSF, Supporters Direct, Level Playing Field and the Gay Football Supporters’ Network.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22694722?utm_source=Main+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=c682f40f93-Main_Mailing_35&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4eada278ac-c682f40f93-295136453
Fan seriously injured during assault
Fan seriously injured during assault at Wednesday’s Nationals-Orioles game in Baltimore
By Mark Townsend | Big League Stew 6/1/2013
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that 25-year-old Matt Fortese of Hagerstown, Maryland was seriously injured in an alleged assault by two men during Wednesday’s Nationals-Orioles game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Police identified the alleged assailants as Michael Bell, 21, Annapolis and Gregory Fleischman, 22, of Jarrettsville and charged both with assault upon their arrests this week.
According to the report, Fortese suffered severe head trauma and a skull fracture, and had to be revived at the scene by an off-duty state trooper. He’s now listed in serious condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
It’s said Fortese was attending the game with Taylor Queen, who traveled over three hours from Virginia to meet him at the ballpark. It was their second date together and it was going well until the two fans alleged in the assault noticed he was wearing a Yankees hat.
Sadly, that is what this entire incident stemmed from — a decision to wear another team’s hat. It then escalated to truly sickening proportions.
Here’s more from the Sun report:
By the fifth or sixth inning of the matchup with the Washington Nationals, the couple had endured about an hour of heckling, mostly about Fortese’s hat, from two men sitting a section above them, said Queen, 21. Then one of the men threw a beer that hit the couple, according to police, and when Fortese approached the men and began arguing with them, one punched him in the head.
The blow sent Fortese over a railing and onto the concrete about five feet below.
Police are saying it was Fleischman who threw the punch. Strangely, the off-duty state trooper who rushed to Fortese’s aid was Nathan Steelman, a childhood friend from Hagerstown who he hadn’t seen in years until their brief discussion at Wednesday’s game. It was a chance meeting at a random time and place, but Steelman’s presence may have saved Fortese’s life.
“You just heard it,” Steelman, 26, said Friday of the commotion. “I rushed over, and I realized it was Matt. He wasn’t breathing. He was unconscious. Blood was coming from his nose.”
He said Fortese had gone as long as 45 seconds without breathing. Steelman, relying on basic emergency medical training he received as a soldier deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, stuck his finger in Fortese’s mouth and removed a wad of chewing tobacco that had blocked his airway. Fortese drew a breath.
When reading this you can’t help but think about Bryan Stow and the trauma he went through two years ago after a brutal assault in a Dodgers Stadium parking lot. It’s all so senseless. All of it. It’s just baseball. How a disagreement over team preference escalates to this point is both mind-boggling and scary on several levels.
Unfortunately, though, what’s done is done. All we can do now is hope for good news on Matt Fortese’s recovery, and hope that something changes going forward. That tough guy fans can smarten up and lighten up just a little bit so other fans can relax and enjoy a ballgame at any ballpark they choose wearing any hat or uniform they choose.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/fan-seriously-injured-assault-wednesday-nationals-orioles-game-191014581.html