ISC prejudiced against Africans

Yed Anikpo
chairman, Public Affairs Committee
African Student Council

Dear Editor:

This letter is in reaction to the events of Oct. 5 during the International Student Council Soccer Tournament match between the African Stars and the Japanese Team.

The game was prematurely stopped by the referee because of the "unruly behavior of a spectator that presented the danger of confrontation and violence to the crowd," according to the ISC. It was a safety call, they say, that was perfectly coherent with the ISC Soccer Tournament Rules and Guidelines, specifically Rule 13, Section A, which states that "referees and officials have the authority to cancel or postpone games due to undesirable conditions brought about by inclement weather and safety concerns."

Here the term "safety concerns" is critical. It could be described as an environment that could be conducive to violence, and the language of the rule clearly specifies in that occurrence the appropriate actions that can be taken by the referee and/or officials are to postpone or cancel the game.

In our case, although it can still be argued whether that "one spectator" presented a threat of "confrontation or violence to the crowd," the game was not cancelled nor postponed; it was ended with the score considered as valid, hence allowing the Japanese team to go on to the next round. The only rule that provides the referee with the power to stop or end a game is Rule 16, Section O, which states, "The referee has the power to make a decision, with the consent of the ISC officials on duty, to stop the game if violence occurs, or if the weather does not permit to play."

Rule 16, Section O does not apply here since the ISC agrees with us that there was no violence in their Oct. 9 letter to the African Stars Captain Paul Ogwal signed by their president Wan Kamal Wan Napi. Hypothetically, had violence occurred during the game on that day, the referee's call, which I would characterize as emotionally driven to say the least, would still not be valid since he hastily ended the game without consulting the officials on duty as required by the rules of the tournament.

The saddest thing, however, is not the referee's misjudgments - like giving six yellow cards and two red cards (penalties) to the African Stars (current holder of the Sportsmanship Award) while allowing the Japanese to enjoy a free ride, nor the stopping of the game right after the Japanese took the lead, not even his remark to the African fans that they should feel privileged to be allowed on Stehr Soccer Field at SIU because there will always be bigots.

It is the fact that the ISC as an organization created in 1967 in a public education institution (SIU) to promote diversity on this campus in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would completely disregard the values promulgated in that act by validating the viewpoint of that referee by not removing him from the tournament and by standing by his "illegal" decision, hence allowing discrimination and racism to go unchecked.

So far, two appeals were rejected; we have requested a meeting with the chancellor, and we will keep the student body informed. We can assure the student body and the Southern Illinois community we will use all the means at our disposal to seek resolution to this matter.

Yed Anikpo

chairman, Public Affairs Committee
African Student Council

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