Political extremism in football must be held to account

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, so admins please move / delete thread if you need to. I feel strongly about this subject so I wanted to get people's opinions.

I was furious when I witnessed Cenk Tosun flash the "Grey Wolves" salute in the weekend in their game against Rotherham. To put it into context, Grey Wolves are a far right extremist political movement in Turkey. It's the equivalent of a Nazi salute and the movement has been banned in France, Austria with others considering the ban.

He has laughably denied knowledge of the movement and said he was simply pointing to the sky and Everton have disgracefully covered it up by standing by his explanation. FA, predictably have accepted Everton's version of events.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/01/10/fa-looking-cenk-tosun-celebration-player-denies-linked-turkish/

Everton have their own agenda in that they do not wish to be associated with racism, and are trying to offload Tosun. Acknowledging and apologizing for his fascist political views would impact his valuation and suitors. But they must be held accountable for this despicable behaviour. It's an insult to all fans in the city and undoes so much good work that is being done .

What are people's opinions / views on the matter in terms of how to go about raising this through the right channels? We all agree racism needs to be kicked out, but I am more interested in existing official channels that can be explored, contacts that can be made or anything I can use to ensure Everton as a club do the right thing by the fans and the city, and publicly apologise for this horrendous act.

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, so admins please move / delete thread if you need to. I feel strongly about this subject so I wanted to get people's opinions.

I was furious when I witnessed Cenk Tosun flash the "Grey Wolves" salute in the weekend in their game against Rotherham. To put it into context, Grey Wolves are a far right extremist political movement in Turkey. It's the equivalent of a Nazi salute and the movement has been banned in France, Austria with others considering the ban.

He has laughably denied knowledge of the movement and said he was simply pointing to the sky and Everton have disgracefully covered it up by standing by his explanation. FA, predictably have accepted Everton's version of events.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/01/10/fa-looking-cenk-tosun-celebration-player-denies-linked-turkish/

Everton have their own agenda in that they do not wish to be associated with racism, and are trying to offload Tosun. Acknowledging and apologizing for his fascist political views would impact his valuation and suitors. But they must be held accountable for this despicable behaviour. It's an insult to all fans in the city and undoes so much good work that is being done .

What are people's opinions / views on the matter in terms of how to go about raising this through the right channels? We all agree racism needs to be kicked out, but I am more interested in existing official channels that can be explored, contacts that can be made or anything I can use to ensure Everton as a club do the right thing by the fans and the city, and publicly apologise for this horrendous act.

I 100% agree that there should be no politics in football but isn't taking the knee also a political statement in favour of BLM, which is a far-left movement? 
Yes yes I know its meant as an anti-racist gesture, which is laudable, but it also happens to be the symbol or gesture for BLM the marxist political movement.

I 100% agree that there should be no politics in football but isn't taking the knee also a political statement in favour of BLM, which is a far-left movement? 
Yes yes I know its meant as an anti-racist gesture, which is laudable, but it also happens to be the symbol or gesture for BLM the marxist political movement.

It's a fair point. There is a debate to be had about any political views being allowed to be expressed in football, especially by the professionals themselves. BLM can be a part of that debate. You can argue it's a positive campaign to eradicate racism in general and brings people together. You can also argue it belongs to a far left movement and has no place in football. It's a healthy debate.

However, if any player makes a Nazi salute, it'll be rightly condemned and clubs would punish the player. This is the equivalent. This particular salute is supporting a known far right extremist group that is lawfully banned in a number of European countries. If there was any basis for freedom of speech being used to express your views for a group like this, he wouldn't have denied his knowledge of it. Clearly he is aware of the repercussions hence the cover up. I don't think it should be debated in the same way whether BLM has a place or not. I am referring to a known fascist movement.

Regardless of which "wing" it comes from, i wish all political crap would stay out of the sport. Part of the reason people watch sports is to get away from the negativity and "forget about life for a while".

If taking a knee is, to your mind, a far left ideology, you may need to check how far right you've gone.

Regardless of which "wing" it comes from, i wish all political crap would stay out of the sport. Part of the reason people watch sports is to get away from the negativity and "forget about life for a while".

Bit difficult to do that when I witnessed racial abuse and blatant sexism at five of the last six games i went.

Regardless of which "wing" it comes from, i wish all political crap would stay out of the sport. Part of the reason people watch sports is to get away from the negativity and "forget about life for a while".

Liverpool FC is a club built on the politics of the city, with Shankly's legacy being the socialist ideal of everyone working together for the common good.
This is also Klopp's philosophy, which he has stated clearly on a number of occasions.
As a working man's sport, football has always been very political, and so has the City of Liverpool, one of the few unchanging socialist bastions in the UK.

Might be an idea to learn the club and city's history.

If taking a knee is, to your mind, a far left ideology, you may need to check how far right you've gone.

It's one of the many ways neo nazis try to undermine and downgrade criticism of racism.
They can't be seen to be doing it directly, so they use snide insinuations.

Truth is, the far left and what are laughably called "Marxists" are pretty much extinct these days.

Cu*ts club, full of c**t,  for cu*ts, so why be surprised by cuntish behaviour

Cu*ts club, full of c**t,  for cu*ts, so why be surprised by cuntish behaviour

I agree although you've expressed it more elegantly than I would have.

It's one of the many ways neo nazis try to undermine and downgrade criticism of racism.
They can't be seen to be doing it directly, so they use snide insinuations.

Truth is, the far left and what are laughably called "Marxists" are pretty much extinct these days.

Well quite, and not just the club but the city, it's the whole reason Thatcher tried to destroy Liverpool. Nobody in the city should tolerate the right wingers trying to undermine what we stand for.

I'm still furious that Everton have tried to cover up a fascist salute by one of their senior players. It's utterly despicable.

“Ole, ole, Maggie's dead, dead, dead"

I think football/sport is a great vehicle to make a political point...

If taking a knee is, to your mind, a far left ideology, you may need to check how far right you've gone.

Interesting, how about the raised fist? It used to signify Black Power, linked to the Black Panther movement, about as racist as the nazi salute, does that also mean something else now?
In all seriousness I'm not on a wind up here, have these political symbologies been completely absorbed by the anti racism movement these days?

I 100% agree that there should be no politics in football but isn't taking the knee also a political statement in favour of BLM, which is a far-left movement? 
Yes yes I know its meant as an anti-racist gesture, which is laudable, but it also happens to be the symbol or gesture for BLM the marxist political movement.

BLM is not a far left movement but certain people would like others to think it was

BLM is not a far left movement but certain people would like others to think it was

Erm yes it is, certainly one of its founders was. https://nypost.com/2020/06/25/blm-co-founder-describes-herself-as-trained-marxist/

To be clear I fully support the anti racism movement but I do not like BLM as a movement /organisation and I view taking the knee as more of a nod to blm rather than against racism although the lines are now quite blurred.

BLM is not a far left movement but certain people would like others to think it was

The “movement” isn’t far left. It includes people that are fighting for equality no matter their political affiliation; however, one of the co-founders has admitted to being a Marxist and the actual organization itself (not the movement) does have shady underpinnings, in fact there was an article I read awhile back about how the local groups were upset at the National leadership of the organization because of the money grabbing it was doing. Just like any large organization it’s getting bastardized to make a subset of people a bunch of money.

The taking of the knee in my opinion has no purpose or effect at this point. Everyone gets it, is it really bringing any more awareness? Everyone knows why it’s being done so at this point it’s just become a checkmark.

The problem is everyone feels that they need to have their good actions and their virtues “seen” by others so they can feel good about being part of something they think is helpful.

Personally, I don’t feel the need to make overt gestures to show people how charitable or virtuous I am.


Back to the original point, yes, we need to be mindful to not support any kind of hateful or spiteful actions or gestures, etc.... but we also have to be careful because while there are certain things that everyone agrees are wrong, once the line starts to blur you then run the risk of creating another problem which is legislating morality and thought. I’m personally in favor of free thought and free speech and if that means that a minority get to have their hateful and idiotic views expressed so that the majority of sane people can have a platform for their not hateful and idiotic views then so be it.

The “movement” isn’t far left. It includes people that are fighting for equality no matter their political affiliation; however, one of the co-founders has admitted to being a Marxist and the actual organization itself (not the movement) does have shady underpinnings, in fact there was an article I read awhile back about how the local groups were upset at the National leadership of the organization because of the money grabbing it was doing. Just like any large organization it’s getting bastardized to make a subset of people a bunch of money.

The taking of the knee in my opinion has no purpose or effect at this point. Everyone gets it, is it really bringing any more awareness? Everyone knows why it’s being done so at this point it’s just become a checkmark.

The problem is everyone feels that they need to have their good actions and their virtues “seen” by others so they can feel good about being part of something they think is helpful.

Personally, I don’t feel the need to make overt gestures to show people how charitable or virtuous I am.


Back to the original point, yes, we need to be mindful to not support any kind of hateful or spiteful actions or gestures, etc.... but we also have to be careful because while there are certain things that everyone agrees are wrong, once the line starts to blur you then run the risk of creating another problem which is legislating morality and thought. I’m personally in favor of free thought and free speech and if that means that a minority get to have their hateful and idiotic views expressed so that the majority of sane people can have a platform for their not hateful and idiotic views then so be it.

Good post, I agree 100% with this.

How did you all feel about Liverpool fans being smeared as the Khmer Rouge by our own Head of Communications in the fight against Hicks and Gillet?

Back to the original point, yes, we need to be mindful to not support any kind of hateful or spiteful actions or gestures, etc.... but we also have to be careful because while there are certain things that everyone agrees are wrong, once the line starts to blur you then run the risk of creating another problem which is legislating morality and thought. I’m personally in favor of free thought and free speech and if that means that a minority get to have their hateful and idiotic views expressed so that the majority of sane people can have a platform for their not hateful and idiotic views then so be it.

Like torching a Stars and Stripes in the initial protest I remember fans having outside Anfield re H & G