Sport Today

by **Phil Arundel** » Tue, 08 Sep 1998 04:00:00

I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo Perelini.
The official line, from Neil Tunnicliffe is as below

RFL chief executive Neil Tunniclife said: "After reading the referee's
report, I have this morning met Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington and
the player at the centre of these allegations, Jamie Mathiou.

"I have also spoken with Shaun McRae who, after consultation with his own
players, does not want to take the matter any further.

"Jamie denies being a racist, but he has admitted making an inappropriate
remark in the heat of the battle. He now deeply regrets that the incident
has taken place. I have reminded him of his responsibilities and of the
seriousness with which the RFL views proven offences of this nature and,
with that, I now consider that the matter is closed."

They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

by **James Andr** » Tue, 08 Sep 1998 04:00:00

On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

Quote:

>I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
>(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo Perelini.

>They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

The incident has been blown up out of all proportion.
There never was anything to take seriously.

On a par with pommie bastard, which is almost a term of endearment.
Well, unless directed at a really, really, really sensitive soul who should
not be allowed out, unless accompanied by his mum.

James Andrew.

by **Dee Brook** » Tue, 08 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

>>I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
>>(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo Perelini.

>>They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

> The incident has been blown up out of all proportion.
> There never was anything to take seriously.

> On a par with pommie bastard, which is almost a term of endearment.
> Well, unless directed at a really, really, really sensitive soul who should
> not be allowed out, unless accompanied by his mum.

> James Andrew.

Point one : how can you possibly make a judgement when you don't know
what was said ?
Point two : it was not Apollo Perelini (who the comments were made to)
who reacted, but a team mate, who was clearly disgusted at what had
been said.
Point three : if a supporter is heard making a racist remark on the
terraces, then they are (quite rightly) supposed to be thrown out of
the ground. Why is it different for a player? If it is not acceptable
from the fans, it is certainly not acceptable from other players. But
apparently, it is!

Dee

by **Phil Arundel** » Wed, 09 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Sorry, I cannot agree with this view. IMO, racism, to any degree, is
completely unacceptable. I am sure that Mathiou's comments were not meant
in an endearing manner, however slight the insult may, or may not have been.
If you take the view that racism to a degree is acceptable, you are treading
a dangerous path. The problem is, where do you draw the line. I am sure
there are still people out there who consider insults such as "N*gger",
"C*on", etc to be acceptable, so should these be allowable? I would hope
that you would not find these acceptable, so why are some other racist
insults acceptable? The only way, IMO, to stamp out racism is to take a
harsh line with any instances of it, otherwise its a short step to the
situation we see in football, where "people" throw banana's onto the pitch
when a black player is playing.
At the end of the day, a person's race or colour is immaterial - we are all
supposedly civilised, and we should try and act like it.
And, before you ask, I am a Caucasian male who does not support Wigan :-)

Quote:

>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

>>I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
>>(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo
Perelini.

>>They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

> The incident has been blown up out of all proportion.
> There never was anything to take seriously.

> On a par with pommie bastard, which is almost a term of endearment.
> Well, unless directed at a really, really, really sensitive soul who
should
> not be allowed out, unless accompanied by his mum.

> James Andrew.

by **stev** » Wed, 09 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

>>I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
>>(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo Perelini.

>>They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

> The incident has been blown up out of all proportion.

Do you know exactly what was said?

Quote:

> There never was anything to take seriously.

Ahh so you do know what was said why not share it with us here.

Quote:

> On a par with pommie bastard, which is almost a term of endearment.

One man's endearment is another man's insult.

Quote:

> Well, unless directed at a really, really, really sensitive soul who should
> not be allowed out, unless accompanied by his mum.

Yeah lets face it you are not a real man unless you are prepared to put
up with insults. While I fully accept that we all need a bit of give and
take in life that doesn't mean reducing things to the lowest common
denominator.

Quote:

> James Andrew.

--
steve

by **Matt Collin** » Wed, 09 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

> They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

Oh they do - as long as it's a second division player involved (re: Anthony Gibbons)

Cheers

Matt

by **Lloyd J. Barkha** » Sat, 12 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

>>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

>>>I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
>>>(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo Perelini.

>>>They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

>> The incident has been blown up out of all proportion.
>> There never was anything to take seriously.

>> On a par with pommie bastard, which is almost a term of endearment.
>> Well, unless directed at a really, really, really sensitive soul who should
>> not be allowed out, unless accompanied by his mum.

>> James Andrew.

>Point one : how can you possibly make a judgement when you don't know
>what was said ?

Either do you!!

Quote:

>Point two : it was not Apollo Perelini (who the comments were made to)
>who reacted, but a team mate, who was clearly disgusted at what had
>been said.

Cunningham was already upset about the penalty given against him.
Anything said could possibly have made him overreact.

Quote:

>Point three : if a supporter is heard making a racist remark on the
>terraces, then they are (quite rightly) supposed to be thrown out of
>the ground. Why is it different for a player? If it is not acceptable
>from the fans, it is certainly not acceptable from other players. But
>apparently, it is!

Why do I think you are a Saints supporter?

IMHO this has been blown out of all proportion and McCrae should've kept
his big gob shut and gone about reporting this incident in the same way
as slagging off a referees performance. He should have been fined for
bringing the game into disrepute.

--
Lloyd J. Barkham

by **Lloyd J. Barkha** » Sat, 12 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

>Sorry, I cannot agree with this view. IMO, racism, to any degree, is
>completely unacceptable. I am sure that Mathiou's comments were not meant
>in an endearing manner, however slight the insult may, or may not have been.
>If you take the view that racism to a degree is acceptable, you are treading
>a dangerous path. The problem is, where do you draw the line. I am sure
>there are still people out there who consider insults such as "N*gger",
>"C*on", etc to be acceptable, so should these be allowable? I would hope
>that you would not find these acceptable, so why are some other racist
>insults acceptable? The only way, IMO, to stamp out racism is to take a
>harsh line with any instances of it, otherwise its a short step to the
>situation we see in football, where "people" throw banana's onto the pitch
>when a black player is playing.
>At the end of the day, a person's race or colour is immaterial - we are all
>supposedly civilised, and we should try and act like it.
>And, before you ask, I am a Caucasian male who does not support Wigan :-)

I don't agree with any sort of racism but this pontificating without any
facts really gets up my nose. Do you know what was said and whether it
was actually racially motivated. I think not. However if you do know
what was said please post it on the NG so we can all judge Mathiou
objectively and not subjectively.

Quote:

>>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

>>>I've just read that the RFL are to take no action agains the Leeds player
>>>(Jamie Mathiou) who, allegedly made a racist remark against Apollo
>Perelini.

>>>They obviously don't take these offences too seriously.....

>> The incident has been blown up out of all proportion.
>> There never was anything to take seriously.

>> On a par with pommie bastard, which is almost a term of endearment.
>> Well, unless directed at a really, really, really sensitive soul who
>should
>> not be allowed out, unless accompanied by his mum.

>> James Andrew.

--
Lloyd J. Barkham

by **Phil Arundel** » Sat, 12 Sep 1998 04:00:00

You are right, I don't know exactly what was said. The RFL, has however,
said that Matthiou made an inappropriate comment - Your guess is as good as
mine. Matthiou, however, has admitted to calling Perelini a "Kiwi",
which -could- be insulting to a Western Samoan. As Matthiou presumably knows
this, coming from Australia, then the comment could be interpreted as
racially motivated.
Irrespective of this, the main reason for my post was a reaction to the
earlier post implying that certain forms of racism are acceptable because
they are only slight - this is where my "pontificating" about a long
slippery road came from.
I apologise for getting up your nose, but I stand by my views ;-)

<-snip->

Quote:

>I don't agree with any sort of racism but this pontificating without any
>facts really gets up my nose. Do you know what was said and whether it
>was actually racially motivated. I think not. However if you do know
>what was said please post it on the NG so we can all judge Mathiou
>objectively and not subjectively.

>>>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

<-snip->
--

Quote:

>Lloyd J. Barkham

by **Lloyd J. Barkha** » Sat, 12 Sep 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

>You are right, I don't know exactly what was said. The RFL, has however,
>said that Matthiou made an inappropriate comment - Your guess is as good as
>mine. Matthiou, however, has admitted to calling Perelini a "Kiwi",
>which -could- be insulting to a Western Samoan. As Matthiou presumably knows
>this, coming from Australia, then the comment could be interpreted as
>racially motivated.
>Irrespective of this, the main reason for my post was a reaction to the
>earlier post implying that certain forms of racism are acceptable because
>they are only slight - this is where my "pontificating" about a long
>slippery road came from.
>I apologise for getting up your nose, but I stand by my views ;-)

I agree with your views on racism. There is no room for it in RL or in
any sport or for that matter in world at large.

However is calling someone a Kiwi a racial or political slur? It doesn't
seem that Perelini himself was that upset about it and in fact he
apologised to Mathiou at the next scrum with regard to the tackle. It
seems that Cunningham who was still het up after the penalty decision
decided it was an excuse for a bit of pushing and shoving.

Quote:

><-snip->
>>I don't agree with any sort of racism but this pontificating without any
>>facts really gets up my nose. Do you know what was said and whether it
>>was actually racially motivated. I think not. However if you do know
>>what was said please post it on the NG so we can all judge Mathiou
>>objectively and not subjectively.

>>>>On Mon, 7 Sep 1998 17:46:14 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

><-snip->
>--
>>Lloyd J. Barkham

--
Lloyd J. Barkham

by **James Andr** » Sat, 12 Sep 1998 04:00:00

On Fri, 11 Sep 1998 11:28:58 +0100, "Phil Arundell"

Quote:

>You are right, I don't know exactly what was said. The RFL, has however,
>said that Matthiou made an inappropriate comment - Your guess is as good as
>mine. Matthiou, however, has admitted to calling Perelini a "Kiwi",
>which -could- be insulting to a Western Samoan. As Matthiou presumably knows
>this, coming from Australia, then the comment could be interpreted as
>racially motivated.
>Irrespective of this, the main reason for my post was a reaction to the
>earlier post implying that certain forms of racism are acceptable because
>they are only slight - this is where my "pontificating" about a long
>slippery road came from.

I did not state that certain forms of racism are acceptable.
There was an over-reaction, since acknowledged by Mc Rae, and the racist card
was played, without justification, in mitigation for other events.

James Andrew.

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