by Nabila Ramdani taken from HERE
Cut through the bigotry of a vocal minority, and there are some pretty uplifting football chants to be heard in England nowadays. Particularly popular at Liverpool is one dedicated to an Arab striker.
It contains the lines: “If he’s good enough for you/He’s good enough for me/If he scores another few/Then I’ll be Muslim too,” and ends with the words: “He’s sitting in the mosque/That’s where I want to be.”Those who revere “Egyptian King” Mohamed Salah – the subject of the song – are not just paying tribute to arguably the best player in the Premier League at the moment. They’re also adhering to a distinctly British tradition of tolerance and respect. This should be cause for immense national pride.
Before hatred of Islam became an obsession among high-profile rabble-rousers and their followers, it was black players who had to put up with racism. Febrile stadium atmospheres turned poisonous, with groups such as the National Front recruiting at games. Xenophobic ditties belted out in the 1970s and 1980s infamously included: “There ain’t no black in the Union Jack/Send the bastards back.”
What changed was the emergence of men such as Cyrille Regis, the former West Bromwich Albion and England forward born in French Guiana. He was part of a generation of non-white players who revolutionised not only the game, but attitudes across the country. Regis, who died in January, aged 59, would never have claimed that prejudice had been wiped out, but with so many charismatic stars just like him, hatred based on skin colour was rendered evil, and embarrassing.
Nowadays the hate-mongers who seek to warp majority opinion tend to focus on religion. And they are by no means found only at football grounds; politicians and authors, mainstream media commentators and online trolls all get involved.They particularly despise Muslims, doing what they can to link 1.8 billion people worldwide with every crime they can think of, and especially terrorism. There have been calls for anyone associated with Islam to be interned or deported and – in at least one case – for them to become the victims of a “final solution”, just as Jews were during the Holocaust. In the case of young Muslim men, they are caricatured as potential killers, ready to take up arms for barbaric groups that corrupt one of the world’s three great monotheistic faiths to their own ends.
In fact, Salah is a fairly typical Muslim. Beyond being hard-working, community-minded and committed to peace in his home country and abroad – he prays devoutly with team-mates Sadio Mané and Emre Can, celebrating every goal by prostrating himself on the ground.
Muslims at Manchester United include Paul Pogba, signed in 2016 for a then record transfer fee of almost £90m. Like his fellow Muslims, he is well-known for donating much of his huge salary to charity. It is the same for Riyad Mahrez – who helped Leicester to win the League in 2016 – and N’Golo Kanté, his old team-mate, who is now at current champions Chelsea. At Arsenal there’s Mesut Özil, at Manchester City Yaya Touré, Mamadou Sakho at Crystal Palace, Islam Slimani at Newcastle … the list goes on and on.
I have spoken to many young Muslims at major grounds in London, Leicester and Manchester who are not only watching their heroes, but increasingly playing the game, too. Inevitably, British Muslim footballers will start breaking into England’s top flight, joining the legions of foreign players.In turn, those who might have seen Muslims as inward-looking and awkwardly conservative are changing their opinion. “Cool” is an overused word, but indisputably stylish sportsmen are having a profound effect on mass perceptions. Just as the British started to drop racist stereotypes in every walk of life – from advertising to situation comedies – from the late 1970s onwards, so Muslims are coming to be portrayed more positively.
They are certainly considered trendsetters who can thrill and inspire by shining in a multibillion-pound industry that has huge influence. Some show off earrings, tattoos, imaginative hairstyles and all the other accoutrements that appeal to their millions of social media devotees, but they also post images of themselves reading the Qur’an on the team coach, or posing in Mecca on their Hajj pilgrimage.
This naturally infuriates the Football Lads Alliance (FLA), a Muslim-hate organisation which imagines that supporters have not moved on from the days when players with dark skins had bananas, monkey chants and the N-word hurled at them from crumbling terraces.The FLA frequently joins forces with equally repugnant mobs such as the English Defence League, which was originally modelled on the football hooligan “firms”. It affects a perverse loyalty to the British armed forces, yet its members rack up criminal convictions and jail time for various offences, many linked to extreme violence. Meanwhile, all propagate the myth that only one religion can produce antisocial extremists. They completely ignore terrorist murders carried out by radicalised white men just like themselves, for example, preferring to spread collective guilt against Muslims at every opportunity.
Such behaviour is as divisive as it is dangerous, but now more and more of these racists are being called out – not least by some of the most progressive football fans in the world.
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VIDEO: Do you know who the Muslim players are in the Premier League?
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PODCAST: The Liverpool and Egypt footballer Mo Salah became a phenomenon last season; breaking records and winning almost every award going in the English Premier League. In his adopted city of Liverpool, football fans of different faith, nationality and club allegiance describe how Salah has broken down the boundaries that divide them. Reporter Nick Garnett travels from the back-streets surrounding Liverpool’s stadium at Anfield to the Pyramids of Egypt to uncover how Salah’s exploits off the pitch may even eclipse his achievements on it. [BBC]
Through the presence of Muslim football player, the British Islamic community has a positive figurehead in a sea of negative headlines. Especially Mohamed Salah, for me he has the biggest impact to the British Islamic community since he arrived in Liverpool and scored 32 league goals in 17/18 season. Through his contribution and goals, it drives Liverpool fans crazy about him and Liverpool fans declare “If he’s good enough for you/He’s good enough for me/If he scores another few/Then I’ll be Muslim too,” this chant is phenomenon to the Muslim society in Britain because it brings positive image about Islam and changed the perception of some of the negative beliefs that people have about the Islamic faith.
ReplyDeleteEventhough many people praise him, he still a humble and big hearted person. He gives monthly financial aid to more than 400 impoverished families, and he’s building a religious school, for up to 1,000 boys and girls, to teach moderate Islam in an attempt to steer young Muslims away from extremism. Salah is the perfect role model how a single person can united faith and football beautifully.
Mo Salah has been a prolific striker for Liverpool for the past 2 seasons now, his willingness to work harder everyday shows a significant result in every match that he has played in also his obedience to God helps him win trophies, breaking records left, right and centre. Outside of football he is also a humble man with a great attitude, clearly he is a role model for young children, but more importantly for the Muslim community in England. I lived in England for 4 years and as a Muslim I could not be more proud of him, other Muslim footballers also helps because there are a lot of children who feels inferior maybe because they come from a Muslim background and they are afraid that they would not make it that far, but these Muslim footballers prove that if we work hard and stay focus on what we do, we will succeed. However racial abuse still occurs occasionally, the most recent that has struck the world is Mesut Ozil of Arsenal leaving the German national team because of the amount of abuse that he got because of a misunderstanding. After all that he has done for the team, the fans were just too harsh on him and pointed out his originality of Turkey and called him names. Being a footballer is not just about kicking balls about, it is more than that and I think that there are lots of pros and cons of being a footballer especially a Muslim footballer.
ReplyDeleteI am also a football fans, but I rarely watched the premier league, I am a fans of FC Bayern of the german league or the Bundesliga. In the german league there are also some muslim football players, I also highy respect them, during the Ramadhan or the fasting season, even some of the muslim players still managed to fast, even when they are required to use all of their energy during a match, I am amazed by their obedience towards their religion. Racism also still happened in the football world, which is a pity. Racial abuse I think is a bigger problem than religion issues, for example, Mesut Ozil of Arsenal retired early from the Germany National Team because of the racial abuse he has taken. He was abused because he is a Turkish-German. He felt that when the team is winning he is a German, and when the team is losing he is a Turkish from the fans point of view. I personally think that racial and religions problems in football should be erased, and we should enjoy football as one family.
ReplyDeleteAs a football fan, I can assure you all that racism in football was, at a time, very present. Like the article said, there were lots of incidents where fans chanted racist songs, made monkey noises, or even hurled some objects to certain players when they were on the pitch. For example, Dani Alves, a former Brazilian that once played in the Camp Nou, was thrown a banana when he was taking a corner kick. A lot has changed since then. Fans now do not see players as a representative of a religion or race. Nowadays, football fans focus only on one major thing – the football. It warms my heart when I read this article because I can see the apparent change the football world really needs. Fans chanting songs to Mohamed Salah showing their love to him and his religion, players like N’Golo Kante who donate their wages for charity, etc. I truly feel like we are approaching a new era of football, an era where we can be united by our love for ‘The Beautiful Game’.
ReplyDeleteI watched the latest world cup league and I do remember Mohamed Salah as a great football player from the Egypt national team, I don’t know that he actually played for Liverpool F.C though (I rarely watch football matches these days). But as a die hard Manchester United F.C fan, I do know Paul Pogba. He’s definitely one of my favourite player. Pogba is such a great player, and as far as I know, people’s respect towards him is quite high, despite that he’s a minority (Muslim Afro-french). After I read the article above, especially about the football chant dedicated for Salah, I feel that there’s a faith in equality. I do believe that the existence of these “Muslim Heroes” in football could shift people’s perspectives towards Muslims in general. Seeing these athletes breaking the negative stereotypes of Muslims, I’m sure that someday it will drop the racism of the people so that people could appreciate others equally.
ReplyDeleteI am a die hard Liverpool FC fan. I have been supporting this club since i was seven and i will keep on doing so until my very last breath. Over the years, i am not shy to say that Liverpool has been struggling, even in the presence of our mighty legend Steven Gerrard we still had it hard on everything. As time flew by, Mr. Klopp came in and rocked everything inside-out. In this article, talking about the muslim players bringing the image of a muslim playing in countries where Islam is viewed as a religion of crime and terror, they do bring a lot of good sights to people. The globalization era has bring so much to the people and by saying so, the media has all the power to inform people everything that they want to. And it is an undisputed fact that most of these medias only inform people the hatred and the side that put Islam to the corner. Well yeah because it sells, that is what the majority of western people want to see. They don’t learn and educate themselves further to the context of Islam. I dont blame them, but please dont blame the subject of the problem first, which is Islam. Educate yourself from the correct source and with an open mind way of thinking. Differentiate the real peaceful muslim and the radical ones which are on the wrong path according to our Holy Qur’an. With the coming of these muslim players, they bring a lot of good sights to people. Also opening the minds that were closed about Islam. These muslim players help to fight the islamophobe way of thinking. That is my opinion thank you for reading Sir.
ReplyDeleteThe rise of Mo Salah is definitely a step forward for the football industry, he was the 17/18 premier league top scorer with 36 goals, which is amazing for a player who is positioned in the right flank. As a football fan, to be honest I enjoyed watching mo salah in television, his speed and agility is beyond extraordinary and those abilities are what makes mo salah special than any other player. There are also other famous muslim footballer, Paul Pogba was the most expensive footballer in 2015 when he secured his move back to manchester united, believe it or not, he is a muslim, as a manchester united fan, it’s an exciting thing for me to see a muslim footballer to step up and take bigger roles in the big stage of football, like the premier league. I believe this will inspire young footballer who came from minority group to go to the higher level and definitely encourage them to became a world class footballer so they can achieve their childhood dream.
ReplyDeleteFootball is arguably the biggest and well-known sport in the world. When the final world cup is being broadcast It attract almost one billion viewers, that number is staggering right? So to be a sport that can attract that kind of viewers it also become a platform to promote positiveness. There has been slogan or ad that are being showed before, after, or during the game such as 'say no to racism' and others. Equality also brought up in the ad, and religion is included also on the topic of equality. Muslim players are in fact a minority in the professional football world but I think there are so much Muslim players that becoming a world-class footballer such as Mo Salah, Demba Ba, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Al-Habsi, and many more. But now Muslim players has been given the same privilege as other players for example Liverpool and Newcastle United has provided Prayers room for Muslim players to do their pray. So I think football has already spreading positiveness through equality.
ReplyDeleteAs a football fan, I am actually quite updated by the rise of the top moslem footballers since in my club which I support which’s Chelsea FC, there are some players that’re actually a devout moslem which one of them is N’Golo Kante, a young, talented Frenchmen that has helped both Chelsea and France national team to win the World Cup and the Premiere league back in 2017. Even though that he’s not as explosive in terms of goal scoring like Mo Salah, his agility and his playmaking skills is one of the best in the league and the world. Considering the fact that nowadays the number of moslem players that’s increasing in popularity and coverage in media, it motivates other young and talented moslems to be able to shine and to express their faith in islam , despite the fact that they’re coming from the minority groups. Eventho that there’s a rise islamophobic behaviour that’s currently experienced due to the recent attacks claimed to be done by “Moslems”, people still do admire these moslems and still do respect these footballers and treat it as equal as the regular footballers and even people respect and do react positively to their faith like providing non-alcoholic beverage for them like what’s being done by the EPL when Toure won the Player of the Month award etc.
ReplyDeletePremier League is one of the biggest and most-watched football league in the world. One of the biggest club is Manchester United, the club that i supported since i was a kid. Talking about football, players in football are diverse, especially when talking about the religion. There is a lot of Muslim football players who is playing in Premier League, or other league in Europe. In Premier League, there is Paul Pogba, N’golo Kante, Xherdan Shaqiri, Ilkay Gundogan, the famous Mohammed Salah, etc. Muslims in Europe these days is mostly discriminated, either because of the Islamophobia, or something else. By playing football, these players are trying to get rid of the Islamophobia. I myself as a muslim is really happy because of these Muslim players are getting their names bigger and they also make us, muslims looks good and the Islamophobia stereotypes are slowly dissapearing out of the Europeans way of thinking. They also make the community looks muslims in a different way, from the point of view of football.
ReplyDeleteIt can be said that sports is what unites us most of the time and in general. But in sports itself football plays a particularly unique role as it is played globally and of course people from all kinds of backgrounds. In this context, we see the progress of Muslim players who are making a name for themselves and also the religion they are devout to. They are benefiting because of improvement in skill and their team are benefiting because of wins, Even though football is a sport played by the international community, some members still resort to racism for unjustifiable reasons. We should always keep in mind that football is all about the skills that the player has to offer. And aside from that should not be put in place as the stepping stone to judge. Concerns for anything regarding racism has no place in football and people accountable for it should be penalized.
ReplyDeleteMuslim players in top clubs in Premiere League brought many positive impacts to the society. I personally think the Muslim player that brought the hugest impact is the player of Liverpool, Mo Salah. Mo Salah does not only entertain us by his skills in playing football but, he also reminds us about Allah. After a goal, his “sujud” celebration reminds us to be thankful every day. Not only that, he reminds us of time of praying. In Islam, you are supposed to pray 5 times a day, Mo Salah even went out of the game so, he won’t miss his praying time. This religious act of his successfully motivated people and make people join Islam. I think the behavior of a Muslim is reflected in the actions of Mo Salah in the field. An example is during the champions league final where Liverpool is head to head with Real Madrid. There was a controversial duel between Mo Salah and Sergio Ramos, causing Mo Salah’s shoulder to be injured and was forced to not continue the match. Duels regularly happen in football matches and whenever a clash like this happen, player would fight/ debate with each other causing the two of them to be given yellow cards and red cards if they involved physical contacts. But, it didn’t happen in the clash between Mo Salah and Sergio Ramos, Mo salah just stayed there and cry, knowing that he does not have the chance to play for Liverpool. This duel brought a big loss to Liverpool and Liverpool was defeated by 3-1 from Real Madrid.
ReplyDeleteAs a football fan and also a player, I can say that racism is present. It does not only happen in major leagues but also in some amateur leagues. It is very common that religion has become an issue of racism in many sectors, not only in football. However, I can see that because nowadays more and more top football players are Muslims, people are starting to respect the religion. This is clearly shown when Ozil was at his best performance. Many people, including me, was very surprised knowing that there is a top-class Muslim football player. Before knowing about Ozil, I had the mindset that top football players were basically Christians, because of their European nationality. As a Muslim, I felt really proud because as time flies, there are more and more top-class Muslim players. By having many Islam football stars, it can change the mindset of how the majority of people are seeing Islam as a terrorist-based religion, into a positive connotation.
ReplyDeletePersonally I am not a big football fan but I once watched it with some friends. After reading this article I become very much aware that religion issues are still something that is being brought up in the football world. I know a muslim football player who play for Liverpool named Mo Salah, for the last couple of months his performance has been outstanding he has scored 44 goals in all competitions last season which is something remarkable comsidering the harsh condition of the premier league, I know these kind of things because I have a friend who is a hardcore Liverpool fan. Based on the story my friend told me about Mo Salah I think that no matter what religion you believe you are as equal as other in terms of skill and stuff, so to be offensive toward religion issues in the football world or anywhere is very unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of opposing football club of Liverpool, the Everton FC, I still see Mo Salah as one of the greatest football player in the premier league industry right now. Although he hasn’t found his pace that he founded last year and be as a prolific goal scorer as he was. The rise of many Moslem player such as Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Mesut ozil and Demba Ba in the last few years has certainly brought positive influence in the Moslem society. Particularly in the western hemisphere of the world where the hate for Islam is still going strong and these football player must have effected how the Moslem are treated there. Many people idolize these football players and respect their beliefs and way of life more. I fell really happy because I have the same beliefs as them and they are making the name of Islam better in the eye of the society and the football fans there. I really hope that the growth of Moslem football players will help shape how the society react to Islam and reduce Islamophobia.
ReplyDeleteThe English Premier League has been blessed with talented Muslim footballers, from the ill-tempered El-Hadji Diouf, to the exemplary partnership orchestrated by the Senegalese Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba during their heyday together in 2012/13. Mo Salah has been a cult figure in Merseyside, justified with the ambitious chant: “If he’s good enough for you, he’s good enough for me; if he scores another two, then I’ll be Muslim too.“ On the other hand, Mo Salah’s Muslim compatriot, Mesut Ozil, is infamous for his inconsistency, despite his skills. He is often harshly criticised by the notorious ArsenalFanTV, a YouTube channel. “His eyes are offside, his eyes are offside! Mesut Ozil, his eyes are offside!” chant the ultras of Emirates, mocking Ozil’s most prominent physical feature. Although this frequent criticism, he is always been fundamental to Arsenal’s style of play that is composed of fast-paced passing football that requires high technical competency.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to hear that there are many talented Muslim footballers are playing in the best football league in the world, the English Premier League. When I started to watch football, I only know two Muslim footballers, both of them are French, Zinedine Zidane and Franck Ribery. But now, we have Salah, Pogba, Ozil, and many others. I hope that the emergence of these Muslim footballers could change the image of Islam which is not really good lately because of the recent terrorist’s attacks.
ReplyDeleteRacism and discrimination in football is still frequently shown by some hate groups. The victims usually are footballers came from minority group like Muslim and Negro. But, when France won the 2018 World Cup, 80% of their squad is of African descent and 50% of their squad is Muslim. It is a major victory for the Muslim and Negro and a major defeat for the racists.
Out of all the top football leagues in Europe, the English Premier League might be one of the many that has the largest racism conduction. Several years back, we already had players mocked by their opposing fans: Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, Samuel Eto'o, Steve Mandanda, so on and so forth. This upcoming wave of talented players coming from a minor identity might put a strong fight against the culture of racism in football. We all know that there is a racial tension in the Great Britain, especially between the native British, the emerging Arabs, the evangelists and the Syekhs, etc. The addition of the love of football and the emerging talents coming from a different range of culture such as Mohamed Salah, Paul Pogba, N'golo Kante, is definitely going to stop this abusive culture. Mohamed Salah is praised by the whole region of Merseyside (just not the blue areas), Paul Pogba is praised by the whole Manchester (also, not the blue areas), N'golo Kante is praised by the whole London (not the reds this time), what I'm trying to convey here is that the presence of these people in these areas could bring a potential in winning the war against racism.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the years, there has been a lot of Muslim football players in the Premier League. Recently there has been an amazing Muslim player in the Premier League that is Mohammed Salah from Liverpool FC. One of Mo Salah’s impact in Liverpool is taking them to the Champions League Finals to match up against Real Madrid. Even though they lost at the Finals against Real Madrid, that is still a great achievement because no one expected that Liverpool would make it to the Champions League finals. Other than Mohammed Salah, there are other Muslim players in the Premier League such a Mesut Ozil from Arsenal FC, Paul Pogba from Manchester United, and also from the recent 2018 World Cup winners squad that is N’Golo Kante from France that is playing for Chelsea FC. These players inspire other Muslim young talents to not give up on their dreams to play football on a professional level.
ReplyDeleteAs a football player, Mohammad Salah is a very talented one. Lots of people around the world admire his skill and achievements. One of the achievement he made was he brought Egypt football team to World Cup and he also brought Liverpool to UEFA champions league. Due to his successful image as a football player and as a muslim, there is an article from http://jabar.tribunnews.com/amp/2018/05/04/fenomena-mohamed-salah-ulama-sebut-pemain-liverpool-itu-berdakwah-lewat-sepak-bola?page=4 that mentions one of the ustads in Indonesia named Bachtiar Natsir said that Salah is preaching through football. And his statement is not solely based on gossips but for a fact, that according to his team, Salah is indeed a good muslim. He routinely goes to mosque, read Al Quran, and every time he scores a goal, he kneel to the ground as form of gratitude towards God. Due to his amazing skill, achievements, and good behaviour, a lot of people admire and inspired by him. In addition, through football, people's behaviour that tend to discriminate and belittle POC (persons of color) is decreased, because those powerful POC football player, including Salah, brings positive impact not only to football, but also to POC community.
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