Fight Against Racism: Footballers

Four former football stars have talked at a UEFA EURO 2008™ reception about their experiences of racism and discrimination that they have encountered whilst playing in Europe.

Yves Eigenrauch, Ramon Vega, Paul Elliott and Anthony Baffoe, who are all ambassadors for the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network, took part in a question-and-answer session to mark the three-week anti-discrimination programme at the tournament. The Unite Against Racism programme, coordinated by the FARE network in conjunction with UEFA and supported of the professional players' union FIFPro, will run throughout the tournament.
TV advertising spot:

It will include the TV advertising spot "Different Languages - One Goal: No To Racism" broadcast at every game and produced in co-operation with the European Commission.

(in Malaysian this video looks different , two Malaysian talk in different language , but end up hugging each other when goal been scored )

Vega(former Swiss captain and English FA Premier League star with Tottenham Hotspur FC)said:
"I played in the United Kingdom, both in England and Scotland, as well as France and Italy, and I experienced discrimination in all of them. In the UK, I was the foreigner. This left me feeling very isolated. In Italy too, supporters and even fellow professionals targeted me for abuse. But football is a great leveller. This is why I am here, to help show what this great sport can do when bringing people together and stamping out racism."

Elliott(former Chelsea FC, Celtic FC and AS Bari defender) said:
"The racism problem in the game is improving, but we still need to rely on law, and implementation of the law.
"I was one of the first generation of black players in the UK who received racist abuse of the ugliest kind. Banana-throwing was commonplace. Now things are different but both individuals and agencies, like FARE, need to keep working together to maintain this progress."

Ghana's Anthony Baffoe(FC Köln in Germany) added:
"I used humour and irony to tackle racism during my time in Germany. Some fans liked it, others didn't, but it earned me respect. Now one only has to look at the leading players across Europe. Many of them are African." Baffoe played in many countries and was able to give his view on how racism from the terraces differed in different parts of the world.

Morale of the story:
Even footballers care about Racism , so how about us(Malaysian goverment and citizens)?
Are we care enough to handle Racism in Malaysia?