| Comments: | The situation before the PAD Committee is difficult. The players of SMCFC are certain they heard a player say something racially derogatory about one of their teammates. MVLA-SJ disputes what was said and who said it. The match officials did not hear what was said.
Situations like this are uniquely difficult for the PAD Committee. The Committee is in a position where it is being asked to act, but there is no certainty as to what happened. And, there are serious considerations on both sides. Racism has no part in soccer at any level. But, at the same time, labeling an individual, team or club as a racist is also a serious matter and is a step the PAD Committee takes only with verifiable evidence.
In this situation, the PAD Committee lacks the evidence to inflict a sanction upon MVLA-SJ. The inability to definitely know what was said or by who prevents the PAD Committee from acting.
With that said, this and other situations provide examples of a situation the PAD Committee requests the Board of Directors of NorCal Premier Soccer to address. Allegations of racist comments are not as infrequent as one would hope. Not only do these incidents appear to be increasing, the sensitivity to those issues has increased as well. The PAD Committee, demanding verifiable evidence as it does in these situations, is perhaps not the correct body to review these incidents. The PAD Committee asks that the Board of Directors review NorCal's stance towards racism and in doing so reviews the following: (a) educationational requirements of clubs, club leadership, coaches, players and match officials, (b) NorCal's policies towards inclusivity, bias and training, (c) the NorCal code of conduct with respect to racial issues, and (d) the correct body to deal with and handle issues such as the one that occurred here. |
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