Seeking A Level Playing Field

“IN 1982, France had three black players, they got to the semir-final, this year they had nine and they won: integration is a pretty good thing.” So says Bienvenu Mbemba, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as we discuss the World Cup. “The World Cup brings people together,” he goes on, “and France winning shows the good side of immigration.”

So does the relative trickle of refugees to Ireland mean automatic qualification for the next World Cup? Not if the Irish state has any say in the matter. While Bienvenu, along with 5,193 others, is waiting for the Department of Justice to decide his fate, he isn’t allowed to work. Not even free of charge. Bienvenu, who wants to coach, played in the Zairean First Division. But even when he offered to do some coaching in Irish schools, as a volunteer, the Department of Education told that him he wasn’t allowed to.

Bienvenu is part of the team from the Congo that won last year’s successful Soccer Against Racism Tournament, beating Hot Press Munchengladbach 1891 on penalties in the final. Talking about soccer seems natural enough in the build-up to this year’s competition (see panel), but the fact that asylum seekers aren’t allowed to work dominates the conversation.

Jacinto Da Silva, a member of this year’s team, asks: “Do people think I’m rich on £65 per week? How can I be a scrounger if I’m not allowed to work? People prefer to work. I’m a computer programmer, I speak seven languages, but people see me as a black peasant. People should respect me because of who I am, not because of my colour.”

J.M. Lubaki, another member of last year’s winning team, agrees. “People should think what we can bring to the country,” he argues, “but the government doesn’t want to let us prove what we can do.”

Media coverage is another problem, the men agree. Says Bienvenu: “You would imagine every black person is a refugee. Black tourists are getting a hard time; what do you think that does for Ireland abroad?”

Agdegboyega Ogunloye and Adekunle Thompson (who was a banker before coming to Ireland) are from Nigeria.

“It’s not about people, really it’s more politics,” says Adekunle. “The problem for black people is that racism starts at the airport, stopping people because of their colour. It has become institutionalised. The real difficulties are dealing with the bureaucracies and the Department of Justice. But immigrants can be an asset to the economy – if we are working then we will be putting money into the country.”

One of the Congo team tells me how after a trip to Amsterdam, he was stopped at the airport and asked questions about his passport. He was the only black man on the flight and the only one stopped. Moreover, the official asking the questions had been the officer present when he had finally received a passport a few weeks earlier.

“They were demanding to know why I didn’t have any baggage, but I hadn’t had a chance to collect it. This man had handed me my passport weeks earlier in the Department of Justice. He later apologised, but as I said to him, ‘All you saw was one more black trying to get in the country’.”

Yet there is a new and even more disturbing problem emerging. “There are a lot more attacks and violence,” says Jacinto. “Racist attacks probably numbered more than thirty in the last two months in Dublin, although no-one is too sure of the real figures.”

Agdegboyega recounts how a Nigerian woman had been attacked: “She was in a phone box, a man and a woman rush up and demand to make a call, and pull her out of the phone box and start hitting and kicking her and shouting names.”

One thing Jacinto is sure of is that meeting violence with violence is not the solution: “Look, if me and five other black men beat up a white guy, that isn’t going to solve anything,” he points out. “The aim is not to make people fight each other but to change the negative attitudes by showing people a positive impression.”

That’s where this year’s football tournament comes in.

“Last year I met Irish people during the competition who later became friends,” Bienvenu says. “Not only players, but people watching can come away changed. It’s a chance for our kids to meet Irish kids and that is important, it helps people change their minds. It lets people integrate and get to know each other.”

The competition has another role too, as Lubaki explains,

“Soccer is a discharge, I’ve problems back home, problems here, but you can forget about it when you play football. Like in soccer, people should not look at colour, but look at talents and skills.”

The Congo team are confident of retaining their title this year, though they think that the competition will be harder this time. As for the Hot Press Munchies, Lubaki says, “Well, they should stick to writing the magazine, and leave the football to us!”

AFTER the success of last year’s Soccer Against Racism in Ireland, the organisers are going for a bigger and better event in 1998. On Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September, Sport Against Racism will hold Ireland’s first-multi national sports weekend in the Law Society Sports Ground in Smithfield, Dublin. Teams so far include: Congo, Vietnam, Bosnia, Somalia, Nigeria, Travellers, The Islamic Centre, Hot Press, Big Issues, Amnesty, ICON, All Sports Athletic, Dublin Brewing, Dublin Diplomats and the Gardai.

As well as the seven-a-side competition, sponsored by the All Sports Cafe and the Dublin Brewing Company, there will be an under-14’s five a side competition which will include St. Andrew’s Celtic, a cross community team from the Falls and Shankill roads in Belfast, basketball, and a wealth of international food, world music and DJs.

The organisers have as patrons; Pelé, Curtis Fleming, Roger Milla, Eric Cantona, Ossie Ardiles, Fabio Capello, George Best, Chris Hughton and Benjamin Zephaniah. They are using the popularity of football to break down barriers, and raise awareness of racism. With support from local residents and refugee groups, the success of this year’s competition looks certain. For further details contact Frank Buckley on 8735077.