The Weatherstone forecast

From the Rage Online newsdesk Thursday, August 17th, 2000  

Ross Weatherstone, United’s 19 year old promising central defender, has been charged and found guilty of an aggravated racist disorderly conduct. He has been fined ?500 plus costs and he has not yet announced whether or not he is going to appeal. These are the bare facts, most of the rest of the Weatherstone story is either conjecture, hearsay or opinion. However, the facts as they stand are enough to make some statements, some contentious, others less so.

Firstly, Oxford United Football Club is a signatory to the Kick Racism Out Of Football campaign, and has the Kick It Out advertising hoardings around the perimeter of the pitch to prove it. Secondly, Oxford United has issued a statement which says very little, other than it is “supporting” Weatherstone in this matter. It does not say how this support manifests itself. Thirdly, Weatherstone has maintained his innocence of the charges throughout, although he admitted that he used the term “Paki” whilst under duress.

So what next. How about a few questions? First, how can a fully paid up member of the Kick It Out campaign not kick a convicted racist out of the game? Second, if Weatherstone is innocent, as he claims, why has he not yet announced his intention to appeal? Third, what does the club mean when it says it “supports” him? Does it mean it supports his actions of violently abusing an Asian taxi driver (as the magistrates decided was the case)? Does it mean it supports him by providing counselling to show him the error of his ways? Fourth, is the club going to take any sanctions at all against Ross Weatherstone? Will he issue a public apology? Will he be suspended for any period? Will he be fined (perhaps not such an appropriate punishment if, as his defence Counsel claimed, he is only grossing ?150 a week)? Will he be asked to run football training sessions for local Asian kids? Or will he have his contract terminated?

Rage Online stated, as soon as news of the charges against Weatherstone broke, that if he was found guilty the only appropriate action for the club was to dismiss him. We have heard no arguments to make us deviate from that viewpoint. Racism is evil and abhorrent. We were proud that Oxford United were so prominent in the Kick It Out campaign (being the only professional football club to sponsor the England Euro 2000 Kick It Out poster gave us a kind of warm glow) and we really thought that United would take a firm stand against racism, especially as (although not because) United’s chairman is himself of Asian background.

We understand Denis Smith’s desire to retain Weatherstone on the club’s roster. He is, as we stated initially, a highly promising young defender. However, this is a matter that transcends ability or promise of talent, and should be applied equally whether to a Premiership regular or a Division Two reserve player. The club must take a firm stance and lead the way to show that racist behaviour is not acceptable by its employees. Sure it can “support” Weatherstone, but that support should be to show him the error of his ways as a former United player because the football club and what it stands for is more important than one individual.

Racism – Kick It Out; Racists – Kick Them Out.


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