Besiktas' Fine for Cat on Pitch Exemplifies How Little Football's Governing Bodies Care About Racism
Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas have been fined €34,000 (approximately £30,000) by UEFA for allowing a cat to enter the pitch during their Champions League encounter with Bayern Munich back in March.
The sanction is notably £8,000 more than the £22,000 Russia was fined by UEFA's parent organisation FIFA for racist chanting.
That's right. A cat trotting across a field is apparently worse than monkey noises being made at various black players over in Russia.
The respective fines may be from separate governing bodies, but ridiculous outcomes like these show just how little is done about racism throughout football.
Besiktas' "insufficient organisation" apparently led to the cat being able to get onto the pitch whilse Turkish side hosted the German champions. On top of the feline problem, there were a series of disciplinary breaches - such as stairways being blocked by fans and things being hurled from the terraces onto the pitch.
The fine comes in the same month when UEFA threw out Michy Batshuayi's case for racism in which the striker complaint of abuse from Atalanta fans during Borussia Dortmund's trip to the Serie A outfit in the Europa League.
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Let's not forget Rhian Brewster's case against Spartak Moscow players being thrown out. But that too is fine, because UEFA added that they felt Brewster was acting in good faith.
Racism is a huge problem in football allover the world. Countless stories have surfaced over lodged complaints towards teams - Russia and Italy appearing to be the two biggest culprits - yet little is done by FIFA or UEFA to fix it.
With the World Cup coming up - in Russia - the entire country will be under the spotlight, and hopefully, if there are any disgraceful instances of racism on show, there will be enough pressure on FIFA to impose a worthwhile sanction.
