Late last month the English goalkeeper David James wrote in The Observer that he was surprised at the accusations of racism against his national teammate John Terry. The latter was accused of racially abusing an opponent, QPR player Anton Ferdinand. James also claimed racism has been rooted out of the game a long time ago.  James suggested that racism was now limited to a small number of fans.

 However, since James wrote that, fans tweeting have abused Newcastle striker Sammy Ameobi (“your hand is nearly the same colour. #nigger” as the black soccer cleats favored by Ameobi), Anton Ferdinand again (“RT this you fucking BLACK CUNT, 1 England captain” with reference to Terry) and Frazier Campbell of Sunderland (“big fucking nigger“). Police are investigating. Only in the Ameobi case has there been arrests. UPDATE: Sepp Blatter has also now weighed in.

Bulgarian fans are racist.

Further Reading

After the coups

Without institutional foundations or credible partners, the Alliance of Sahelian States risks becoming the latest failed experiment in regional integration.

Whose game is remembered?

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations opens in Morocco amid growing calls to preserve the stories, players, and legacy of the women who built the game—before they’re lost to erasure and algorithm alike.

Sovereignty or supremacy?

As far-right politics gain traction across the globe, some South Africans are embracing Trumpism not out of policy conviction but out of a deeper, more troubling identification.

From Cape To Cairo

When two Africans—one from the south, the other from the north—set out to cross the continent, they raised the question: how easy is it for an African to move in their own land?

The road to Rafah

The ‘Sumud’ convoy from Tunis to Gaza is reviving the radical promise of pan-African solidarity and reclaiming an anticolonial tactic lost to history.