UEFA have confirmed that there was nothing relating to racism in the official's report, and that will almost certainly seal the issue.
Emmanuel Adebayor, however, was subjected to the chants. The massive collection of home fans at the Santiago Bernabeu were also forced to hear the chants, as were the less ignorant members of the away support. And the worst is almost certainly still to come.
If a travelling support can make enough noise for everybody, bar UEFA apparently, to hear their foul abuse of the Togolese star, in a stadium with the electric atmosphere of the Bernabeu no less, imagine a packed White Hart Lane.
Whether or not punishing the club for the behaviour of their fans is likely to yield results or not, it is abundantly clear that something must be done. The former Arsenal man is far from popular at White Hart Lane, and a strong performance from him on his return to London for the second leg, will almost certainly throw up similar abuse.
UEFA have essentially pushed the fight against racism back a massive step with their failure to punish the incident, and until they become more consistent with their punishments, our sport will continue to suffer at the hands of sheer ignorance.
When Spanish fans, who are so widely criticised for racism, have to hear fans from England, a country where racism has apparently been pushed out of football, it proves but one thing. Racism still exists everywhere.
As the governing body of the European game, it is UEFA's responsibility to eliminate bigotry and prejudice of all types from the terraces, and on this occasion, they have failed in their duties. They have simply proven that fans can still get away with this sort of abuse, and it appears unlikely that it will go unnoticed.
Gareth Lowe
Source: DSG
