Late last month, in the 63rd minute of one of the highest profile games on the English soccer calendar between Chelsea and Tottenham, officials were forced to stop play.
It wasn't a yellow card or even a red card.
Racism had apparently reared its ugly head once again -- a scourge that has been resurfacing in a number of professional sports in recent years.
Antonio Rudiger, a black Chelsea defender, was seen complaining to the referee, with a gesture putting his hands under his armpits, to indicate that he believed he had been subjected to racist monkey chants from rival Tottenham supporters. The referee, Anthony Taylor, used a new protocol from UEFA, European soccer's governing body, to stop play. The new protocol, introduced in October 2019, allows for the referee to abandon the match if racist behavior continues after two warnings, issued by a stadium announcer.
Three stadium announcements saying that “racist behavior among supporters is interfering with the game” followed in the remaining half hour, a surreal, confusing and sad spectacle for soccer fans watching on television and in the stands.
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