Players say racism and
homophobia common in football
Players
from England's professional football leagues have told a campaign group that
racism and homophobia are common in the game. Over 200 professionals playing in
the Premier League, and the three divisions below it, took part in a survey
conducted by the campaigners Kick It Out. The organization said both racism and
homophobia were everywhere in English football. Over half of those who answered
the survey said they regularly see racism and homophobia. A quarter said they
have had racist or homophobic comments from fans or other players. One in five said
they have seen it from their own teammates. Many players said there should be
better policing at football matches.
Kick
It Out said things were improving but progress was too slow. It said many
players complained about the slow progress. Its website said: "During the
2012/13 season, a number of players publicly displayed their discontent at what
they believed to be a lack of progress in tackling racism and discrimination
across the game." Former Premier League player Paul Mortimer said there
was less racism and homophobia now than there was in the 1980s and 1990s. He
said: "If you pick any club in the country, any stadium or any training
ground, everything in a club has moved on. But some of the discriminatory
vocabulary used is from a bygone era. This kind of mentality is still in the
dark ages. It has to move on."
1. TRUE / FALSE:Read the
headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
a.
|
Players from leagues all
over the world spoke about discrimination.
|
T / F
|
b.
|
Over 200 players
participated in a survey.
|
T / F
|
c.
|
More than half of those
who participated regularly see discrimination.
|
T / F
|
d.
|
Players said they never
see their teammates making bad comments.
|
T / F
|
e.
|
Players complained that
the fight against discrimination was too slow.
|
T / F
|
f.
|
A player said there was
less discrimination now than 30 years ago.
|
T / F
|
g.
|
The player said it was
rare to see discrimination at training grounds.
|
T / F
|
h.
|
The player said people's
mentality was from the 19th century.
|
T / F
|
2. SYNONYM MATCH:Match the
following synonyms from the article.
1.
|
common
|
a.
|
steps forward
|
2
|
took part
|
b.
|
replied to
|
3.
|
survey
|
c.
|
remarks
|
4.
|
answered
|
d.
|
widespread
|
5.
|
comments
|
e.
|
choose
|
6.
|
improving
|
f.
|
questionnaire
|
7.
|
progress
|
g.
|
challenging
|
8.
|
tackling
|
h.
|
way of thinking
|
9.
|
pick
|
i.
|
participated
|
10.
|
mentality
|
j.
|
getting better
|
