By Ronan Scott

THE GAA has responded to the recent story in Gaelic Life regarding one Donegal club player’s account of racist abuse he suffered during a club match.

Ulster GAA PRO Declan Woods stated that the GAA remains anti-racist.

The statement read: “The Association condemns all actions of a sectarian, racist or anti-inclusion matter and anyone found guilty of an offence of this nature will be disciplined in accordance with the provisions of Rule 7.2. of The Official Guide. We are not aware of the specific incident in Donegal.”

On June 18, Four Masters player Rahman Balogun revealed that he had suffered racial abuse during a club game two years ago. He said that he received abuse throughout his young life, but in this instance his attitude towards it changed and decided that he had to react.

He said: “I went mad, took off my jersey and walked off the pitch.”

Balogun’s frustration came when there was no follow up to the instance.

He said nothing was done to deal with the matter and two months later he heard more racial abuse and he snapped again, and lashed out.

He said: “It bothers me that nobody did anything.”

In response, the Ulster GAA have said that the association has very strict rules regarding racism.

“We encourage the GAA respect campaign “Give Respect – Get Respect,” the provincial council continued.

“We would hope that racism or racist comments do not rear their head and that our coaches players and parents understand what is and what isn’t acceptable.”

They pointed out that Ulster GAA promotes a wide range of respect, inclusion and outreach initiatives.

The organisation has specific policies regarding equality and community and inclusion, which are in place for all those clubs who seek Club Maith accreditation.

The community and inclusion policy includes reference to the importance of a club being welcoming to everyone no matter what their race is.

They also cited a string of programmes that have been put in place to promote inclusion, the importance of reaching out to all sections of the community and making GAA clubs more welcoming.

“Over the years Ulster GAA have delivered specific initiatives where people from minority ethnic groups had opportunities to play Gaelic games and actually represent their local area. Local clubs were involved and links created.”

Programmes include: Peace IV – Sport Uniting Communities Programme, BAME (Black Asian Minority and Ethnic) Engagement programme where BAME groups are introduced to Gaelic games, inclusive club-themed workshops, and a good relations conference which focus on BAME groups.

The GAA also provide training for clubs to help them become more inclusive. They also have developed an inclusion charter and clubs are encouraged to sign up to it.

Ger McTavish is the Association’s diversity and inclusion officer and recently worked in collaboration with the Sports against Racism education and awareness campaign. After a pilot project, they held their first racism workship in Mayo last year.

Mayo u-21 footballer Shairoze Akram took part. He told GAA.ie “I think those workshops are very important. It’s about educating not just the players but coaches as well.”

r.scott@gaeliclife.com