Mario Ballotelli And The 3 Sardars

[West London Singh]

Sat sri akal everyone.

Just wondering, do any of you know what Mario Ballotelli said to the 3 famous Manchester United sardars as he walked up to his bench after being substituted ?

I spent the weekend wondering if there was some kind of verbal altercation between them because at the time, thats the way it looked to me. From Mario's facial expression at the time it looked to me as though he was making a racial slur against them (although I have to say they (the 3 sardars) do have a habit of viciously goading opposing players and managers) . Read alot of football fan forums today in which Man City fans are jumping to Ballotelli's defence by making very racist comments about Sikhs and turbans.

Just wondering if any of you have any news because...the way I see it...a civil action on behalf of all Sikhs in this matter will result in international attention about Sikhs and the importance of the turban on a scale not yet witnessed. Especially in Ballotelli's native Italy where the issue is perhaps at its most importance.

The facts are these : The whole globe....in one of the most watched games on planet earth....saw one of the worlds most controversial footballers make, what looked like, racial slurs against Sikhs with turbans. I would like to think that he didn't in fact say anything racial but instead said something lovely such as "hello...nice to meet you" but something inside me tells me thats probably not the case.

i can see alot of potential benefits for us as sikhs by pursuing this issue. At best a grassroots initiative by the F.A to eduacte all and sundry about the turban and at worst a political debate in Italy.

[Haky189]

I also saw this, rewinded it as well like 10 times ! I didn't pick up on what was said. I wouldn't have thought he would have said something racial as the Sardars reaction was just a laugh. If anything Balotelli might have said something along the lines "we're winning anyways" so i wouldn't really worry about it. Im glad the Sardar said something to him though ! GGMU

[VanHelsingh]

Its difficult to say for certain just by judging the look on Balotelli's face meant he was racist against the Singhs. Only the Singhs or Balotteli know what was said. Making a big deal out of this would - IMO - add to the impression that Sikhs can dish it out but can't take it when someone replies in kind.

The average guy - of whichever background - will say that the Singhs started the "exchange", and by making an international incident out of what any gorah will refer to as "banter" will make us look pathetic. But that's my opinion.

By the way I'm not excusing genuine racism or discrimination against us. We should always fight discrimination but in this situation it seems the Singhs instigated it. Whilst in a perfect world Balotelli didn't have to respond with a racist remark (if he did) we don't live in a perfect world.

For example as a Singh myself if I walked up to someone in the street and said "You're an <banned word filter activated> and a fool", taking into account the intolerant and ignorant society we live in I would expect my turban and my beard to be the most obvious and easiest target for someone to seize upon when replying to me in kind. In that situation I could always argue that the person responding to my insult didn't have to be racist, but there will always be those who will say I should've kept my mouth shut in the first place.

[West London Singh]

Its difficult to say for certain just by judging the look on Balotelli's face meant he was racist against the Singhs. Only the Singhs or Balotteli know what was said. Making a big deal out of this would - IMO - add to the impression that Sikhs can dish it out but can't take it when someone replies in kind.

The average guy - of whichever background - will say that the Singhs started the "exchange", and by making an international incident out of what any gorah will refer to as "banter" will make us look pathetic. But that's my opinion.

By the way I'm not excusing genuine racism or discrimination against us. We should always fight discrimination but in this situation it seems the Singhs instigated it. Whilst in a perfect world Balotelli didn't have to respond with a racist remark (if he did) we don't live in a perfect world.

For example as a Singh myself if I walked up to someone in the street and said "You're an <banned word filter activated> and a fool", taking into account the intolerant and ignorant society we live in I would expect my turban and my beard to be the most obvious and easiest target for someone to seize upon when replying to me in kind. In that situation I could always argue that the person responding to my insult didn't have to be racist, but there will always be those will say I should've kept my mouth shut in the first place.

I'm sorry Kaljugi but I must disagree with you. Now, granted this is only speculation as we don't know for sure what ballotelli said but...its relevent to note what happened exactly 2 hours after this incident. 2 hours later John Terry is alleged to have made racist slurs against black people (during a verbal altercation with a black player....in a similar 'street' situation as you describe above. Similar in the sense that after a physical tussle John terry wanted to make his feelings known to the opposing player and did so by latching on to the most obvious attribute of that player ; his race). That alleged racist slur by a professional footballer has not only made the back pages of every newspaper but also the front pages and the national and international tv news headlines. Not only that but the F.A have launched a wide-ranging investigation.

So..are you saying racist slurs against black people are worse than racist slurs against Sikhs ?

I should remind you that there should be and indeed is zero tolerance of any racism in a football statium. Both on the field and in the stands. I should also remind you that racism only stops when people see other people made an example of and the message that it will not be tolerated gets across.

[VanHelsingh]

@ West London Singh - You make valid points for sure. I suppose your argument is that a racist comment whether it was as a result of the abused instigating the exchange or not is irrelevant. I actually agree with that but like I said the society we live in has it's priorities completely skewed. It seems wrong is right and right is wrong.

I was trying to balance the situation out and put myself in the mind-space of the average man on the street. But from a Sikh perspective I agree with you 100%.

[Dev1975]

I saw that match but must have missed the exchange between Balotelli and the Singhs. If it's true then Balotelli needs to be dressed down for making foolish statements, even if they were to Man United fans.

[notoriousksj]

if the sardars sat there and kept there mouth shut instead of taunting balotelli then maybe we wouldnt be having this discussion, im not condoning racism but if your goin to sit there and cuss at players then you should be prepared to take some stick back, anyway you lot look far too much into this, over the years lip readers have been wrong on many occassions so dont jump to conclusions and just assume straight away that he made a racist slur

[Wutgwan]

tbh, it looked like the Singhs were the ones giving the grief