Jozy Altidore was the target of racist's chants in a Dutch Cup match on Tuesday. Does the incident mean that European soccer has a serious race problem?
Altidore is an American forward with AZ Alkmaar and he was subjected to racist chants on Tuesday night in a 5-0 win over second-tier Den Bosch in the quarterfinals of the Dutch Cup. According to ESPN.com, Altidore said he never heard such abuse from the stands before. Some of the abuse included monkey chants and other racist remarks.
"There's nothing I can do about it," he told Dutch television's Eredivisie Live. "All I can do is pray for them and hope they can become better people."
During the match, referee Reinold Wiedemeijer wanted to stop play in the first half because of "jungle sounds chanted at Altidore," according to AZ's official Twitter feed. But AZ players, including Altidore, who is black, persuaded him not to. There were issues in the second half as well, when Wiedemeijer had to halt play due to fans throwing balls of ice at his linesmen, according to the Dutch Eredivisie official Twitter feed and Dutch news website Nu.nl.
"It is terribly sad that this can happen for those involved and for lovers of football in the Netherlands," AZ soccer director Earnie Stewart, a former U.S. national team midfielder, told Dutch television's Eredivisie Live at halftime. "You hear that and wonder what on earth is going on."
The club of Den Bosch apologized to Altidore following the match and said that they promised to catch and punish those responsible. The club tried to ask fans to stop chanting and later said they were "ashamed" of the fans involved. The club also said those fans "do not belong in the De Vliert (Stadium) and will face the toughest possible sanctions."
Altidore, who is black, was not available for comment Wednesday. He has played for the U.S. national team and the New York Red Bulls from 2006-08 and scored a goal from the penalty spot in the win despite the chanting.
U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said Altidore told him what had happened.
"Obviously, we hear about those things and (we're) not pleased with it at all," Klinsmann said. "When that type of stuff happens, no matter where in the world you go, you don't want to see it."
The 23-year-old American, said education could help erase this type of behavior in the future.
"At the end of the day it's still alive, racism. All we can do now is try to educate ourselves, the young kids coming up, to be better than that," Altidore said.
Den Bosch condemned the chants from a small section of the crowd.
"A cup tie that was supposed to be played in an atmosphere of respect has left us scarred," the club said in a statement on its website.
"We can't deny that, certainly when we play top matches ... we have a structural problem with a group of people who ruin things," director Peter Bijvelds told Dutch radio. "We have to crack down on it."
Altidore said after the match that he felt it he needed to continue playing so not to give weight to the insults.
He said: "I feel like I have an obligation as a football player, to my club, to my family, to not react to things like this and to show that the club stands better than that, that I was raised better than to respond to such ridiculous behavior.
European football has dealt with a number of racial incidents over the past few years, most notably with John Terry, who was stripped of his captaincy of England after being accused of racially abusing defender Anton Ferdinand in a game.
Another incident occurred when Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was suspended for eight matches after he racially abused Patrice Evra of Manchester United last year. He was found to have done it multiple times during the match, and the FA said in its verdict last year that "his guilt did not depend on whether he intended his words to be abusive or insulting." He was fined 40,000-pound for the incident as well.
