McClean accuses FA of turning ‘blind eye’ to sectarian abuse

By Chris Hatherall

Football’s ability to protect players from crowd abuse and to respect their freedom of expression is being called into doubt after James McClean became embroiled in yet another controversy over his choice not to wear a poppy.

The Derry man has spent seven years explaining why he opts not to sport the symbol on his shirt but when he was abused by his own fans during Stoke’s goalless draw against Middlesbrough on Saturday it was his social media reaction, and not the abuse, which was investigated.

The Republic of Ireland winger was warned by the Football Association for use of an offensive word in an angry post in which he praised some Stoke fans for their support but described others as ‘uneducated cavemen’, saying: “To the section of uneducated cavemen in the left-hand corner of the Boothen End stand that want to song their anti-Irish song each game and call me a Fenian this and that... I am a PROUD FENIAN no c**t will ever change that, so sing away. Your abuse, your throwing things, your booing, do your worst.”

The FA says there will be no further punishment for McClean but the incident has wider implications, coming in the same week in which Hibs boss Neil Lennon suffered merciless abuse in a derby game against Hearts and was struck on the head by a coin thrown from the terraces. Both Edinburgh clubs condemned the poor behaviour of fans, while Lennon later defended his own behaviour and described the sectarian abuse aimed at him as ‘racism’.

In McClean’s case, after reports emerged the FA were investigating him rather than the abuse, he was similarly angered as he posted on social media: “The FA are investigating me after Saturday’s event — for what, exactly? Yet week in, week out for the past seven years, I get constant sectarian abuse, death threats, objects being thrown, chanting which is heard loud and clear every week which my family, wife and kids have to listen to. They turn a blind eye and not a single word or condemnation of any sort.

“Huddersfield away last year while playing for West Brom where there was an incident with their fans which was on the game highlights, where cameras clearly caught it. Yet the FA, when complaint was made to them, said there ‘was not enough evidence’.

If it was a person’s skin colour or if it was anti-Muslim, someone’s gender, there would be an uproar and it would be taken in a completely different way and dealt with in a different manner. But like in Neil Lennon’s case in Scotland, because we are Irish Catholics, they turn a blind eye and nothing is ever said and done.

This isn’t the first time that McClean has found his right to make a personal choice compromised. In 2012, Police investigated a death threat made towards him on Twitter when he was playing for Sunderland. A statement from McClean, when he played for Wigan, explained his position to fans and the winger later wrote in the West Brom programme in 2015 to clarify it.

“If the poppy was simply about World War One and Two victims alone, I’d wear it without a problem,” he wrote. “I would wear it every day of the year if that was the thing but it doesn’t. It stands for all the conflicts that Britain has been involved in. Because of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear something that represents that.”

In 2016 there was uproar in the UK when Fifa banned England and Scotland from wearing it on their shirts in a November fixture. The ban was eventually rescinded as Fifa accepted the poppy was not a ‘political symbol’ and that a player’s right to wear it should be protected. The right of other players not to wear it, however, appears more complicated, and McClean would like better protection.

He is not alone. Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic also had to issue a statement this week after receiving abuse for announcing he will not wear a poppy any more. Matic did not wear a poppy during United’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday and the Serb released a statement on Instagram explaining he will not be doing so for this weekend’s Manchester derby on Remembrance Sunday.

Matic said: “I recognise fully why people wear poppies, I totally respect everyone’s right to do so and I have total sympathy for anyone who has lost loved ones due to conflict. However, for me it is only a reminder of an attack that I felt personally as a young, frightened 12-year old boy living in Vrelo, as my country was devastated by the bombing of Serbia in 1999. Whilst I have done so previously, on reflection I now don’t feel it is right for me to wear the poppy on my shirt.

“I do not want to undermine the poppy as a symbol of pride within Britain or offend anyone, however, we are all a product of our own upbringing and this is a personal choice for the reasons outlined.

“I hope everyone understands my reasons now that I have explained them and I can concentrate on helping the team in the games that lie ahead.”