Racism in football has not been "kicked out" Submitted on 17 August, 2012 - 13:48 Author: Sam Gilbert Many within British football claim the problem of racism has gone. Within European football virulent racism is still displayed in stadiums. Before the European football championships in Poland and Ukraine, the BBC aired "Stadiums of Hate" a Panorama documentary, featuring Polish fans giving Nazi salutes and a group of Asian fans getting attacked at a match in the Ukraine. "We are not like that" is the strong message the programme gave out. In the 70s and 80s racist abuse from supporters was common place and the far right had a strong foothold on the terraces in the UK. Paul Elliot (the first black captain of Chelsea): "When I started my career at Charlton Athletic, there was a very strong National Front presence at stadiums all over the country...There was monkey chanting, banana throwing and other abuse". Kick it Out, the anti-racist campaign set up in 1993, aimed to tackle racism and remove it from British football. It works with various charities and with clubs on policy to try and increase inclusiveness within football. Kick it Out has been seen as a success by the football authorities; racist chanting and abuse from the terraces has declined sharply since the campaign started and more black footballers are playing for football teams. But such things cannot be taken as proof that racism in longer as issue within the sport, as the FA would have you