Rosenior: Antonio’s Zouma racism statement was wrong
Mikey asked a reporter if what Kurt Zouma had done was worse than racism in an interview widely seen on Twitter and various media outlets including ours.
But Lee – who is also involved in the anti racism group Kick it Out declared in an exclusive ClaretandHugh interview: “Both issues are utterly disgusting but let’s not compare one to the other – that really doesn’t work of make sense. Mike was wrong to make the comparison.
Leroy as an Iron back in 1988
“The club should have dealt with this very firmly from the start, made their position clear and wrapped the whole thing up there and then.
“Instead of dealing with it at the time they have let it go on and on and it has got completely out of hand with the media having several field days – and that’s because it wasn’t closed down by the club’s chief executive officer or whoever!
“Then came the decision to play him against Watford and that reignited the whole thing again. I couldn’t believe that and it will all start again if he plays against Leicester. He must not play.
“This isn’t a football matter and it can’t be treated as one. Somebody inside in the club has to say No More.
“He can’t play, they must decide how much to fine him and how many games they must suspend him for, create a pause and stop the media coverage.
“It can’t be left to the manager – that’s not right. The club will be acting far too late but they have to do something to stop this. They have themselves to blame for the fall out into the media.”
“We have seen some people draw comparisons between animal cruelty and discriminatory abuse. Both are wrong and it is not helpful – victims are not in competition with each other.
“With any incident of abuse, there should be a fair process and those actions should have consequences. But consequences should not mean complete cancellation. For some people, no punishment is ever enough and comparing incidents will always divide opinion.”
Lee was talking to CandH editor Hughie Southon