An American soccer player in Norway was subjected to racial taunts and spit on by fans during a game. Robbie Russel, who is black and was born in Amherst, Mass., plays for the Norwegian club Sogndal. "I’ve experienced racism, but never anything like this," the 24-year-old player told the state radio network NRK. He said four or five Brann fans on Sunday grabbed his jersey through the fence about 27 minutes into the game. "A woman spit in my face," he said. "The entire time a group of supporters were yelling racist things at me." Russel was not injured and declined to file a police complaint, choosing to let soccer organizations deal with the matter.
There was an outpouring of support for Russel and condemnation of his attackers in the national news media Monday. The Bergen-based Brann club promised to identify the culprits using TV footage and threatened to permanently ban them from Brann events. Russel supported such a move, saying "nothing entitles them to do that sort of thing to you."
"We condemn all forms of racism in Norwegian soccer," said Karen Espelund, secretary-general of the Norwegian Soccer Federation. "Such behavior goes against everything we stand for." Russel joined Sogndal in May 2001, and the club beat Brann 3-1 for its first elite division victory of the season. |