An Open Letter to UEFA President Michel Platini

“As an organization that prides itself on fighting racism and discrimination and in contributing to inclusion, peace-building, reconciliation, and solidarity”

You think UEFA cares about human rights or the track records of these countries? Don’t make me laugh.

How many times have Russian and Spanish fans made monkey chants and thrown bananas at African players? Has UEFA done anything other than a give a comical 100 thousand Euro or so fine? How many times have teams with historical links to a Jewish fanbase (Ajax, Tottenham, etc.) been subjected to anti-Semitic chants and posters in eastern Europe? Just last week, UEFA only fined Partizan of Serbia 30 thousand euros for disgusting anti-Semitic banners and chants against Tottenham. Again, this week, UEFA did NOTHING over a banner that read “Yes to Racism” in Bulgaria. Where is this supposed zero tolerance to racism and discrimination? Not to mention that Euro2012 was awarded to Poland/Ukraine, 2 other notorious racist and virulently anti-Semitic countries in Eastern Europe. The Italian FA president called black players “banana eaters” earlier this year. His punishment? A 6 month ban. Wow, way to go UEFA. An organization TRULY committed to anti-racism and anti-discrimination would have banned him for life the day after his remarks, not a 6 month slap on the wrist punishment handed down months after the fact. In June this year, Platini was accused of colluding with the Qatar football federation president in order to ensure Qatar got the world cup bid in 2022. This is the same Michel Platini (French) who quite clearly gave Euro 2016 hosting rights to France over Turkey (by 1 vote) and later claimed that Turkey can host a major tournament when a Turk leads UEFA.