In the wake of the horrific abuse that Danny Rose received last night, the Serbian FA have all but taken it upon themselves to deny the on-loan Sunderland left-back received any form of harsh treatment during England’s 1-0 win over Serbia.
For those that haven’t seen the footage, Rose was subject to racial abuse by the Serbian crowd before, during and after the encounter. The 22-year-old was sent off following the final whistle for kicking a football away, presumably in frustration at the actions of the fans during the game.
However, regardless of the video footage available for the watching world to see, the Serbian FA insist that any form of abuse took place, insisting that it was the fault of Rose, whose behaviour after the final whistle was “inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar”.
What I, and many others want to know, is how they feel they can condemn Rose and not their own fans for what happened in Krusevac. They may as well have said in their statement “it’s the fault of Danny Rose for being black and coming to Serbia”.
Fortunately, the statement to emanate from the Eastern European nation has fallen on deaf ears and after emerging online; heavily criticised by all those on social networking site Twitter. It also gives the impression that the problem doesn’t just lie with the fans.
It appears as though the FA are also fully aware of the problems the supporters pose, but are unwilling to take any necessary measures to eradicate the trouble. As it currently stands, those associated with the game are now welcoming the idea of not travelling to Serbia in the future for football, which can be considered a tough punishment to hand out, but one that is looking more and more likely.
The full statement from the FSS can be seen here.