Sigh

Blackburn came from a goal down to beat Wisla Krakow 2-1 in their UEFA Cup Group E match -- but the win was overshadowed by allegations of racial abuse suffered by Rovers' striker Benni McCarthy. The 28-year-old South African was so incensed by what he considered intolerable abuse that he squared up to Serbian defender Nikola Mijailovic after the game. I hope he kicked his ass.

Manager Mark Hughes said: "Benni was upset because a number of comments were made to him during the game...of a racist nature. It's unfortunate something like this will tend to overshadow a great performance."

Everyone always talks about eliminating racism from the game, but I'm not sure how you go about doing that. If its tolerated and/or encouraged in society, it will be on the pitch. If its tolerated and/or encouraged by football leadership (a-hem, Aragones) it will be on the pitch. Perhaps if there were more brown/black/Muslim/Jewish/whatever else coaches, managers and owners...