Simon Jordan believes that the Union Bears’ controversial banner shown during Rangers’ Europa League clash with Fenerbahce ‘wasn’t particularly racist’. The Ibrox club’s ultras group unveiled a banner during the last-16 second leg tie which read: “Keep woke foreign ideologies out. Defend Europe.”
And that anti-woke script was deemed “racist and/or discriminatory” by Europe’s football governing body Uefa. Rangers’ chiefs also condemned the banner – releasing a strong statement. “For the avoidance of doubt, if you do not believe in 2025 that absolutely everyone is welcome to follow Rangers, whether at Ibrox or away, then Rangers is not the club for you and you should disassociate yourself with the club immediately,” the club revealed.
They added that they were “deeply saddening and frankly embarrassing that the club is now set to face significant sanctions for the actions of a very small minority. Rangers is a modern, progressive football club and we are fiercely proud of our diverse playing squads, workforce and support. “ Speaking on the popular broadcaster this morning (Thursday, March 20), former Crystal Palace owner Jordan hit back at Uefa and Rangers’ response to the banner.
“I have to say that some of the messaging – the missile throwing, the pyrotechnics, non-negotiable – and there should be consequence for that,” he said. I’m not entirely sure – and I’m not suggesting their are entitled to put these banners up – I am not entirely sure that not not wanting an overseas ideologies or to defend Europe is particularly racist. “Ideologies are a belief system, not necessarily an individual set of people. If you have values that are not akin to another. Some people believe in one thing, some people believe in another. I don’t think it’s particularly racist to suggest that overseas ideologies that don’t sit well with don’t sit well with the belief country is something you should be able to push back against. “Whether you should do it at a football match – fine, I get that point – but to extrapolate everything up to some form of racism, I feel uncomfortable with.
“Well, with due respect there is an ideology in the gulf states that homosexuality is illegal. Would we embrace that ideology in this country?” Rangers were also been charged for throwing objects during the clash with Jose Mourinho’s side by Uefa. The Scottish giants slammed the increasing presence of this across the SPFL as a whole. “Further, the club has also been charged by UEFA for the throwing of objects at the home match with Fenerbahce,” the statement continued.
“This is becoming a regular occurrence, not just at Rangers matches, but across stadia in Scotland. Indeed, our players and staff were targeted with missiles at Parkhead on Sunday. “Focusing on Ibrox, however, there was a widely-reported incident in the January Old Firm game, whilst at the recent game with Motherwell, one of our own supporters was hit and injured by an object thrown towards the away end. And now, the club faces a sanction for the actions of an individual last Thursday.
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