Jason Roberts...Do you sometimes find him annoying?!

[Wimb]

The point is, up until the two most recent racist events, Roberts appeared to be supporting KIO - I've not heard him moan about them before - and if he has, he certainly couldn't have been as vocal as he has recently been. So what happened to make him suddenly get all mouthy over how bad KIO are? Like I said, the FA decision to ban JT for 4 games and the racism in Serbia spring to mind. Why didn't he mouth off when Suarez got an 8 game ban and a big fine?

And, at this moment in time, I'd prefer our players to be concentrating on the playing side of their game - I think the close season is time enough for Roberts et al to spout all they want about their opposition to campaigns such as KIO and do something about it then. It's not like anyone is going to turn around tomorrow and say, "we're dropping KIO with immediate effect because one player spoke out and 2 others also refused to wear a t shirt".

Maybe he was trying to give support to KIO for as long as he could but the JT sentence etc was the last straw?

Personally I don't mind how our players stand up to racism as long as they're doing it. Roberts is doing what he thinks is best to combat the issue and credit to him for raising awareness of it.

[Royal Lady]

And like I said, KIO can't influence the FA or anyone else into how long a ban is given. So it's not KIO's fault JT only got half as long a ban as Suarez. Maybe KIO were going to let the dust settle before speaking out about the length of his ban or whatever, but Roberts' tantrum hasn't helped the cause now.

And as I also said earlier, he'd have been better off offering his services to help them, representing the players and conveying their feelings over the JT case to KIO rather than publicly slagging them. He may have been able to help KIO influence the FA more with regard to punishments etc - but he's ruined that somewhat now.

[Pandoras Box]

Ermmmm...St Pauli...I think it said Islam is not a race? that is an indisputable fact, no different than saying Roman Catholicism is not a race. Too hard to understand?

[sandman]

And like I said, KIO can't influence the FA or anyone else into how long a ban is given. So it's not KIO's fault JT only got half as long a ban as Suarez. Maybe KIO were going to let the dust settle before speaking out about the length of his ban or whatever, but Roberts' tantrum hasn't helped the cause now.

And as I also said earlier, he'd have been better off offering his services to help them, representing the players and conveying their feelings over the JT case to KIO rather than publicly slagging them. He may have been able to help KIO influence the FA more with regard to punishments etc - but he's ruined that somewhat now.

So you agree with him that they are a toothless organisation who don't influence anything?

If anything he's given them publicity and now they need to use that to try to make a real difference. That is what he has achieved and hopefully rather than dismissing his concerns they will address them. I'm sure that having made their point the likes of JR and Ferdinand would be happy to sit down and talk with KIO.

I guess racism is pretty hard for a middle class white woman in her late 90's to understand .

[Royal Lady]

No, I don't agree that they are "toothless" they just aren't able to tell the FA how long punishments should be. I thought they existed to raise awareness etc. Which they have done.

And I'm perfectly well aware of racism thanks!

[Hampshire Royal]

I know KIO exists. What I don't really know is how it works, except that it is supported by the FA and could be somehow seen as sort of official. I find it interesting that the people I have heard of who did not wear the KIO T shirt are black. Roberts, the Ferdinand brothers and a black Stoke player. There may be others I don't know about, including some non-black players, but surely the ones mentioned (especially Anton Ferdinand and his brother) are among those who would stand to benefit most if KIO was effective.

Racism has certainly declined in football, but is this due to the general decline of it in society as a whole rather than the existence of KIO? Did KIO put pressure on the FA to give a strong punishment to John Terry, captain of the European Champions and of England? If not why not? And if they did, are they happy about the punishment Terry received, which was less than that received by a South American for a similar offence? Maybe the protesting players are worried that Terry's punishment is not enough to stop similar things happening in future.

You don't have to be black to understand and despise racism, but maybe only those who are on the receiving end of racism can fully undertand it's effect.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Ultimately they've got a shedload of publicity so kudos for that but they've gone about it in the wrong way IMO.

Rio is the one that bugs me the most. Clearly not the sharpest tool in the box. He re-tweets a tweet that calls Ashley Cole a choc ice yet has the nerve to 'take a stand' against racism....or am I missing something here?

He clearly just likes attention and making a fuss - I doubt even he knows what he is moaning about half the time. Fergie should get shot of him - he's shit now anyway.

[St Pauli]

Ermmmm...St Pauli...I think it said Islam is not a race? that is an indisputable fact, no different than saying Roman Catholicism is not a race. Too hard to understand?

Er, yeah, thanks for clearing that up...I'd have never known.

It is an indisputable fact. I was just highlighting that racists mouth off about Islam and then claim that they're 'not a racist because Islam isn't a race'.

No, they're just massively bigoted and prejudiced towards a religion where the vast majority of the members are from a non white ethnic background. Anyone might think they were covering their racism with this thin veneer because outright racism is rejected by all but the most inbred pcunts (eg. John Terry).

There are some genuine critics of Islam who also criticise all religions in that (ironically) evangelical style that Dawkins and his ilk use. They're not racists. Just wankers.

And LOL at RL's suggestion that:

1) Professional footballers can't comment on politics, except perhaps in the off season.
2) JR should only have raised his concerns about KIO publically at the exact point early on he had misgivings about them, and leaving it until now undermines the point he's making.

[Royal Lady]

You can LOL all you want St Pauli - you'll forgive me if I don't take any notice though.

Smacks to me of "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" - Roberts has never, to my knowledge, expressed concerns about KIO until this JT affair. Maybe JT was given a lesser ban due to the fact that he didn't admit he said it and nothing was proven in a court of law. Suarez on the other hand DID admit to saying it and was punished accordingly. That is the difference. I'm not saying that JT DIDN'T say it, but that it was not proven and he did not admit it.

[St Pauli]

You can LOL all you want St Pauli - you'll forgive me if I don't take any notice though.

Smacks to me of "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" - Roberts has never, to my knowledge, expressed concerns about KIO until this JT affair. Maybe JT was given a lesser ban due to the fact that he didn't admit he said it and nothing was proven in a court of law. Suarez on the other hand DID admit to saying it and was punished accordingly. That is the difference. I'm not saying that JT DIDN'T say it, but that it was not proven and he did not admit it.

Is it possible that KIO's handling (or rather non handling) of the JT events might have changed his mind about them? Just a thought.

[Simon's Church]

Terry admitted saying it but argued over the context he used it in, the same as Suarez.

[ZacNaloen]

You can LOL all you want St Pauli - you'll forgive me if I don't take any notice though.

Smacks to me of "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" - Roberts has never, to my knowledge, expressed concerns about KIO until this JT affair. Maybe JT was given a lesser ban due to the fact that he didn't admit he said it and nothing was proven in a court of law. Suarez on the other hand DID admit to saying it and was punished accordingly. That is the difference. I'm not saying that JT DIDN'T say it, but that it was not proven and he did not admit it.

Is it possible that KIO's handling (or rather non handling) of the JT events might have changed his mind about them? Just a thought.

He's being petty. He's ignoring all that Kick it out has achieved over one incident he isn't happy about?

oxf*rd off.

Just a few years ago that hearing wouldn't even have happened because the black players wouldn't have felt they had anyone to complain about. So 1 player didn't get punished enough? SAY THAT THEN. Say it publically. Shout it from the roof tops. Don't undermine the organisation and all it's achieved in making sure hearings like that can actually take place.

[Mr Angry]

If it was just Jason, then he would look totally out of step with the rest of football in England; however, when Rio publically humiliates Sir Alex over this issue, when players like Kenwyne Jones, Joleon Lescott and Victor Anichebe also refuse to wear a T-Shirt for the same reasons as Jason, then it is clear that it is more than a single player trying to court publicity and prepare the way for his post-football media career.

Whilst things on this issue are clearly far far better than they were, there is still a long way to go, and whilst I can't stand the bloke, Joey Barton had it right - how can a player get a 12 match ban for acting like he did in the Man City game, yet another player only get a 4 match ban for racially abusing an opponent; the only way the cases can be seen in context with each other is that the FA view one crime to be 3 times worse than another, and its clear that a number of black players would be right to question whether the FA is REALLY that serious about "kicking it out" as a result.

[St Pauli]

I haven't really looked into it much, and what Roberts has said, but I'd imagine he would want KIO to criticise the FA more, and feels they haven't done enough because they are too far up the arses of the FA, in the same way many Reading fans complain about STAR never criticising the club because they're too far up the clubs shitter.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

I haven't really looked into it much, and what Roberts has said, but I'd imagine he would want KIO to criticise the FA more, and feels they haven't done enough because they are too far up the arses of the FA, in the same way many Reading fans complain about STAR never criticising the club because they're too far up the clubs shitter.

He (and the other players, and many other in football) wants KIO to be more than a box-ticking exercise. Football has KIO there to show the world they're "doing something about racism", when in fact they're doing the square root of bugger all.

But a nice cosy organisation, that gives out t-shirts once a year and holds a few banners up, allows the "great and good" of football to savle their consciences and give the pretence of doing something.

What Roberts etc want is a properly-funded organisation that can actually do something and make an effective difference, not one that's there to act as a smokescreen.

[Stuboo]

You can LOL all you want St Pauli - you'll forgive me if I don't take any notice though.

Smacks to me of "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" - Roberts has never, to my knowledge, expressed concerns about KIO until this JT affair. Maybe JT was given a lesser ban due to the fact that he didn't admit he said it and nothing was proven in a court of law. Suarez on the other hand DID admit to saying it and was punished accordingly. That is the difference. I'm not saying that JT DIDN'T say it, but that it was not proven and he did not admit it.

Is it possible that KIO's handling (or rather non handling) of the JT events might have changed his mind about them? Just a thought.

He needs to wind his neck in because he's being disrespectful to an organisation which has done more to raise awareness about racism than he ever has. KIO have made terrific progress over the last few years, but one perceived mistake and he jumps on their back.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

You can LOL all you want St Pauli - you'll forgive me if I don't take any notice though.

Smacks to me of "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" - Roberts has never, to my knowledge, expressed concerns about KIO until this JT affair. Maybe JT was given a lesser ban due to the fact that he didn't admit he said it and nothing was proven in a court of law. Suarez on the other hand DID admit to saying it and was punished accordingly. That is the difference. I'm not saying that JT DIDN'T say it, but that it was not proven and he did not admit it.

Is it possible that KIO's handling (or rather non handling) of the JT events might have changed his mind about them? Just a thought.

He needs to wind his neck in because he's being disrespectful to an organisation which has done more to raise awareness about racism than he ever has. KIO have made terrific progress over the last few years, but one perceived mistake and he jumps on their back.

"terrific progress"???? Really?????

How much more progress might a properly-funded and effective organisation have made? And by this I mean "real, actual progress" - progress that achieves something.

[DaveBanana]

Though KIA can't issue fines themselves, surely they could public ally state that they feel the FA bottled it over said incidents, or even threaten to walk away - this would put the FA in an awful position, whereby their anti racism campaign organisation would be outing them, and potentially force their hand to act further?

[No Fixed Abode]

This has just be retweeted by Jason Roberts

mickeyvonmouse ‏@vonmouse
@JasonRoberts30 Hey you BLACK MONKEY! Watcha doing out of your monkey zoo cage?

Some idiotic people about. Lets hope they trace the person who set up that twitter account.

[No Fixed Abode]

Jason Roberts ‏@JasonRoberts30
Funny....People asking ME not to RT...I've seen it!..Why not you?...does it make you feel uncomfortable..? Welcome to my life..