World Cup seen as chance to crack down on racism

Nigerian Adebowale Ogungbure's dream of a professional soccer career in Germany has turned into a nightmare. Since he joined his club FC Sachsen Leipzig early this year, the 24-year-old has been greeted with loud monkey chants when he steps on to the pitch, had to dodge bananas thrown at him and been physically attacked by fans from opposing clubs.

Now Ogungbure, who has won two caps for Nigeria and plays in Germany's fourth division, has joined other players appealing to World Cup top officials to use the tournament starting on June 9 to crack down on racist fans.

"I am human, I am not an animal. I like my job, I want to play football but that's just got nothing to do with the game any more," Ogungbure told Reuters.

"Now all these nations are coming to Germany to play together as one. This is the time to make clear that humanity and respect for others are part of the game."

In March, FIFA announced draconian punishments against racism on the pitch and in the stands during the World Cup. President Sepp Blatter said sanctions could range from match suspensions to point deductions.

FIFA earned praise for the initiative against racism, which remains a problem in Spain and in Italy and as well some eastern European countries. In Germany, there have been racist incidents in some second division venues and lower leagues.

Weeks later, however, Blatter backtracked, saying teams would not be docked points for fans' racist behaviour during the tournament as policing the rules could prove too complicated at short notice.

Experts and officials have accused FIFA of backing down and losing credibility.

Some, though, supported FIFA, saying it should be given more time to think over how to police the new rules, which could open the door for manipulation if implemented in haste.

"What if a team were losing and its fans started chanting racist songs to get the match cancelled?" said Lucy Faulkner from England's FA at a recent conference on racism in Berlin.

Gunter Pilz, a sport and violence researcher at Hanover University, said there was no excuse for not taking a tougher stance at the World Cup because every ticket holder had been registered.

"For international matches we also have strict separation of fans in sections and every seat is assigned to a name," said Pilz, who is also an advisor to UEFA.

"If you take that a little bit seriously then you can easily track down the offenders."

The number of neo-Nazis in Germany is on the rise, according to a new report, and a group of African immigrants in the country have published a guide warning about areas where there have been frequent racist attacks.

Brandenburg peril

Last week a former government official said fans should avoid parts of Brandenburg, the former communist state which surrounds Berlin.

"There are small and medium-sized towns in Brandenburg and other places where I would recommend that nobody with a different skin colour go," former government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye said.

"They would possibly not leave there alive."

Germany's interior minister dismissed the warning.

"I think during the world championship everyone can feel safe, wherever he will be in Germany. We are prepared," Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

In the United States, black team members preparing for the finals at a training camp said they had become used to racial abuse when playing for European clubs but hoped the World Cup would be different.

"Unfortunately, it (racism) happens," said defender Oguchi Onyewu, who has experienced abuse by rival fans while playing for Standard Liege in Belgium.

"With the World Cup, I'm not anticipating it, but there's so much of it in league play.

"Hopefully this (World Cup) will be a different atmosphere. I appreciate the measures FIFA's taking, all that is good externally, but it's not going to do much internally - you can't change the mindset of people."

US goalkeeper Tim Howard said the sport's governors needed to have a zero tolerance policy on racism.

"They are doing a decent job but they've got to hit teams where it hurts the most - no fans at games and fines. We can only speak out against it as players."

Midfielder Landon Donovan added: "(Racism) is just wrong. Players shouldn't be going to the World Cup worried about that.

"You want to stop racism, FIFA should deduct points or take a team right out of the tournament, see if they ever do that again."