John Fallon: Racial slurs an unfortunate reality for Irish players
DUAL-HERITAGE: Republic of Ireland players Adam Idah, right, and Andrew Omobamidele. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
ADAM IDAH didn't have to hear about the latest dose of racial abuse to know how rife it is across football.
Last week, the FAI contacted An Garda SĂochána to report vile comments that appeared on social media following two wins for Ireland's U15s over Latvia.
As has been the trend over the past 15 years, the Irish team is diverse in composition, several players born to immigrants and refugees welcomed into this country.
Idah, like his Norwich City clubmate Andrew Omobamidele is a senior Ireland international of Nigerian heritage, while Chiedozie Ogbene in 2021 became the first African-born player to earn a full cap.
That's a pattern replicated through the underage ranks and the natural shift isn't being universally embraced, albeit the resistance is by a minority.
Idah sounded deflated when informed of the latest incident, yet hardly surprised by its prevalence. It's not an Irish problem either, as the Corkman has encountered insults since moving to England six years ago.
So fed up with the issue that he removed himself from all social platforms, a rare occurrence for a 22-year-old oscillating between the Premier League and Championship.
"I have been off Twitter for two or three months," he confirmed following his outing off the bench against France on Monday, his first international appearance after an injury-plagued 18 months.
"I just one day decided not to be on it, to not see all the comments.
"You don't want to be seeing lots of hate all the time. It's not nice, especially when I was injured.
"It's probably the thing I was on the most and seeing all these things is not nice so I had to come off it [social media] and it was the best thing I did.
"Even if I do have a good game, I might have seen one comment that's bad and that will put you down for the rest of the day.
"So the best thing for me was to come off it. Pretty much all of my family have come off it as well, just to not see these comments."
His lack of faith in big tech companies to address the scourge was central to his disillusionment and while he doesn't see that changing anytime soon, he'd recommend the abstinence for all black players – including Ireland's U15s - making their way through the ranks.
"I don't see anything now, I don't get too high or too down, I have that balance and I can recommend that to most people, stay away from it, it's one of the best things I did.
"I don't think anyone has a right to be saying things like that on platforms like Twitter.
"There should be an identity check when you set up these social media accounts. That's the main thing; every company should know who is on their app and these things shouldn't be said.
"I've had it in the UK – after playing Crystal Palace, I went on my Instagram and there were a few comments. It's not a nice feeling and the club helped me with that, to be fair.
"I stand strong with racism. I try to do the best I can to try and stop it but people will always be like that. For us we need to educate people a bit better, that's the main thing. Hopefully one day we can crack down on it.
"These U15 players know themselves they are Irish, no matter what colour skin you or religion you are.
"I have experienced it myself and it's not nice for those lads. Under-15 is such a young age and it's outrageous for them to go through that.
"We are all here to welcome whoever, if you want to play for this badge, then you are more than welcome. I stand by them."
Jim Crawford, Idah's manager at U18 level and Stephen Kenny's assistant during his prolific 2019 year, spoke passionately on the case over the weekend, sharing his angst at the likes of Twitter and Facebook but also highlighting the hypocrisy of the culprits.
"The same people will be cheering goals if Chieo scores, Adam Idah scores, do you know what I mean?" said Crawford, who previously worked for the FAI as a Development officer in the community.
"It comes from a minority but the unfortunate thing is that they have a platform.
"They're ignorant, they're uneducated, but they have to hide behind these fake accounts.
"I've worked in the FAI a long time and I know the work that development officers do on the ground, getting into schools, putting on Show Racism the Red Card programmes, and I've been involved in that myself.
"It just makes you angry."
And, worse still, it's unlikely to subside anytime soon, given the rise of far-right groups in the country and their online presence.
We Are One reads the FAI slogan but it's been anything but when it comes to their new kit supplier.
Supply issues with Castore had been well known before the deal was belatedly announced this month and the launch of the new jersey – unavailable so far to buy in the shops – came just two days before the senior game against Latvia.
Of course, the newly-fangled Irish football isn't just about the senior team – that's the chimney on top of the house, in John Delaney's words – but there was no spanking new threads on any of the other teams in action over this international window.
Players on duty for the U21s ahead of their friendly against Iceland posed for pictures last week with Castore sweat tops but with shorts manufactured by previous sponsor, Umbro.
It was the same scenario when the staff and players walked onto the Turner's Cross pitch before the game on Wednesday – Jim Crawford and his staff donning different apparel to Stephen Kenny and his.
At least they had Castore jerseys to wear in their match, unlike the men's U19s and women's U17s.
Not the FAI's fault but it's not too much on their behalf to partner with a company capable of meeting their needs.
One step forward in the women's game and a half one backwards.
There was a understandable level of bewilderment and frustration when Cork City's national league fixture was called off three days ahead of Saturday.
Apparently, according to to the FAI release, the request was made by the Munster FA based on weather conditions for Cork over the weekend.
A postponement two weekends of the season seemed odd, far from ideal for players, staff and fans.
Pictures from Turner's Cross on Saturday showed perfect conditions for football, only serving to magnify the mystery around the decision. Maybe it could be explained by the Ireland U21s facing Iceland the following day.
Eileen Gleeson, the FAI's new head of women's football, wasn't impressed. " We need to get past these issues, to ensure we're not in these situations around infrastructure," she said on Tuesday.
"Getting into these isolated incidents doesn't do anybody any favours. It detracts from the Progression we're making. Clubs have good intent are trying to push forward so we need to move beyond this, trying to ensure we don't end up in these Situation... with the bad weather."
Better planning would be a start, as the weekend clash could easily have been avoided if they'd switched the game to Ferrycarrig Park at the start of the season – rather than Doing so as this news broke.
