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People of different races have sometimes not been accepted as players in European football. This is happily changing due to societal change as well as campaigning on the part of the football authorities in different countries. UEFA and the European Union support the Football Against Racism In Europe (FARE) project which aims to stop racism. EARLY FOOTBALL In many countries, was the first black player to be selected for England , but he never played for his country, thought to be due to the colour of his skin. It was not until Viv Anderson that black footballers started to become accepted into the England National Football Team . {Link without Title} . Andrew Watson has the distinction of being the first black player to {Link without Title} :
Arthur Wharton became the first black ''professional'' football player {Link without Title} . MODERN FOOTBALL Nowadays in the bigger leagues minority players have become part of football, and are supported. This was seen in the French Football Team which won the 1998 World Cup . The team was composed of white and black Frenchmen, plus a New Caledonia n ( Christian Karembeu ); the whites also included an ethnic Armenia n and Kalmyk ( Youri Djorkaeff ), a Basque ( Bixente Lizarazu ), and an ethnic Berber ( Zinédine Zidane ). This composition was seen as an indicator of racial harmony. Unfortunately, in countries that do not otherwise have many immigrants of different race (such as many Eastern European countries), prejudice against hiring e.g. black football players still remains an issue, especially in the smaller clubs. This can be particularly distasteful when combined with a lack of decency shown by some football fans when they chant against the opposing team. Incidents in 2004 have also shown this to be the case in some bigger leagues, where there are a visible number of players from a different Ethnicity . Spanish fans were heard by the world media to be making "monkey chants" at some of the black players on the pitch forcing the Spanish football authorities to apologise for their fans [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4024433.stm . Part of the outcry about these recent incidents was put down to cultural differences between the English-speaking (mainly British) press and Spanish culture [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,1476271,00.html]. On legislators are threatening Europe-wide legal sanctions against national football associations and clubs whose fans are seen to take part in racist actions. {Link without Title} RELIGION AND FOOTBALL Sometimes certain clubs are, often unfairly or unnecessarily, connected with religions, such as both Spurs and Ajax with Judaism , or the Old Firm Rangers F.C. and Celtic F.C. of Glasgow , who are seen to be Protestant and Catholic respectively. This has led to problems, but generally equates to little more than derogatory nicknames. 'ASIAN' FOOTBALLERS Players of Asian origin in European countries are also gaining acceptance, the Korean player Park Ji Sung who played at Manchester United are an excellent example of Asian footballer who can be a rising star in big clubs in Europe. Park may be preceded by the Japanese player Hidetoshi Nakata, who have played at various European clubs such as Perugia, AS Roma, Parma, Bologna, Fiorentina and lately at Bolton Wanderers. Other Korean, Iranian, Chinese and Japanese football players also have gain starting places in their respective clubs in Europe. Some football clubs hire the Asian football stars hoping to increase merchandise sales from the player's respective Asian country. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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