Racism is badl, but nationalism/regionalism is alright.
Athletic Bilbao's player recruitment policy
- Thread starter Rozay
- Start date
Racism is badl, but nationalism/regionalism is alright.
It's not really nationalism though. They won't employ a player from outside the region because they feel that local people have better understanding of tradition and values of Basque country, they're not really telling everyone from outside the country they're cnuts or anything. I've actually heard nothing but good things about their fans when it comes to hospitality.
You realise they also sign players from France right?
They didnt make a statement about preferring white players. Their fans made a request not to sign black and gay players. This is discrimination against two broad groups of people and the underlying tone was that they felt that these groups were not as good as others.
If Bilbao thought that basque players were "better" they must be wondering why they havent won the champions league.
They do have the power to excercise that discrimination though.
Its almost as if he ignored the point that was made previously in the thread about them having their first black Basque playerFair enough about the black player, but my general point still stands.
Oh ok, they're nice about it. I'm convinced now.
"Good afternoon, may I have a table for 2?"
"Good afternoon sir, I regret to tell you you may not have a table. You do not meet our criteria for admission."
"That's fine sir, I understand, have a nice day."
"Have a nice day sir."
Yes I know the Basque region includes areas in the country of France.
I'll step down from the soap box now, since it seems everyone is convinced racist discrimination is bad, but discrimination based on regional origin is ok.
Oh ok, they're nice about it. I'm convinced now.
"Good afternoon, may I have a table for 2?"
"Good afternoon sir, I regret to tell you you may not have a table. You do not meet our criteria for admission."
"That's fine sir, I understand, have a nice day."
"Have a nice day sir."
Yes I know the Basque region includes areas in the country of France.
I'll step down from the soap box now, since it seems everyone is convinced racist discrimination is bad, but discrimination based on regional origin is ok.
What general point? You dont seem to have one
My general point is that Bilbao's policy is discrimatory.
You've been told its not. Its their preference valuing their traditions and having players who understand the areas the club comes from. Its their policy to look after their club longterm, not because they have a superiority complex
Do they allow non basque players, with absolutely no ties to the region to play for them?
The only reason they are able to do this is because others are not doing this? Yeah, that's a policy which should be applauded, maybe every one should follow it if it's so good, oh wait, it's not possible on a larger scale. And it's xenophobic. And they've got Petronor on their shirts.
Firstly, I dont see why anyone would have an issue with that.
Secondly, it is Athletic - not Athletico.
Thirdly, who exactly is being discriminated against? The answer is, NO ONE.
It's not the same thing. In Russia, white people are the dominant majority and Zenit's policy further restricts the opportunities of the minority. In Spain, Basque's were oppressed and this is a way to promote their culture. It's more akin to a women's team not allowing men to play than Zenit not allowing blacks to play.
Ah, affirmative action? I'm done.
Ahhhhh so its ok to discriminate in favour of a certain group, but not others?
See you around.
Okey dokey. Discrimination and prejudice by any other name........
Some people are obsessed with equality it seems. You cannot really tell anyone to employ someone who they don't want to employ, for valid reasons too. You'd like to control everything and every thought, wouldn't you?
We're a fecking cnutish club too though. We've never had a first team player from Tahiti, Andorra, Armenia or Uzbekistan. fecking racists.
Yeah, we have a policy to sign players only from the world minus those countries. Nothing against them, but what can we do, policy, culture, traditions, etc. We are not discriminating against them, we just prefer to sign from the world minus those four.
No, either we are all equal or we are not and we can stop pretending. Because someone is not local is not a valid reason. Because they arent very qualified, would not be good at the job, are likely to cause trouble or because someone else is more qualified are all reasonable excuses not to employ someone. Because they arent our kind of people is a short step to because they are different, and from there.............
I think there is a few people here who don't understand what discrimination is, I suggest you look it up in a dictionary.
To be honest, anyone who thinks Bilbao's policy is similar to what Zenith used to do is a bit thick.
To be honest, anyone who thinks Bilbao's policy is similar to what Zenith used to do is a bit thick.
We are discriminating players who are worse at football than others. It's a fecking cnutish thing to do, you don't dictate your level of talent and you cannot be denied a job that you want because you have very little of it. Everyone should be exactly equal, I don't buy it any other way.
If its not possible on a larger scale why are you getting so worked up about it? Is Bilbao doing it really having such a debilitating effect on global football?
Im not sure I do understand their policy, so far noone will answer my question......will Bilbao sign a player with absolutely no connection to the basque region what so ever?
Exactly! Everyone should be equal, so why don't we sign less talented Andorran players and go for talented players from England or Portugal instead? Because we're prejudiced against players with little amounts of talent, that's why, and we are massive cnuts for this.
No, that doesn't make it something which is correct though, and certainly not something which should be applauded as is widely done.
Yes because not being good at the job is exactly the same as not liking the colour of your skin, or not liking your accent or where you are from.
You are born with talent and you don't dictate it, you have no control over the amount of talent you have. You shall never be discriminated on this basis.
Ok, so would it be acceptable for english employers to refuse to employ polish/Latvian/Lithuanian workers for example, because they arent from here and dont understand or arent connected to our culture?
Nope - who is being discriminated against?
Yes, it'd be understandable I'd say if it was going to affect their work.
I do see your point to an extent. Club football would be a much poorer and more predictable spectacle if every club did this, then of course you'd have vexed questions as to what reasonably defines a 'region'.
However I do like seeing a club with such a clear and unique identity. Would you not agree that having some tangible, on the pitch link to the local community is a good thing? I love Utd having native Mancs in the squad, and I still consider Celtic's 1967 European Cup win with 10 players born within a few miles of the stadium as being a tremendous achievement. Also I admire clubs that really place an emphasis on youth development. So much the better if it benefits the local community rather than just hoovering up the most promising kids from around the world.
Football teams (not clubs) are completely different to that. Else you'd have mandatory signings of diverse cultural players and women in the United squad
The club Athletic Bilbao recently had a coach who wasn't Basque, Marcelo Bielsa a Chilean. They also employ women. This shows that the club will indeed adhere to these policies just like any other workplace, its just the playing staff, the football team, that will not. Just like Manchester United do not sign women to the playing staff to avoid sexism
I don't think they will, no. Which is discrimination. Of some sort. Then again, say you run an art gallery in your local area. You have decided to display - exclusively - works by local artists, that is artists living and working in the area. No matter how good an artist is, he or she won't be displayed in your gallery unless he (feck, or she) in some kind of definite way (and here the whole bloody thing opens to interpretation, doesn't it?) belongs to the area. Is that xenophobia - or is it just promoting local interests and so-called culture?
I don't know. I guess it depends on context, like everything else in this hell's creation. Would you say an institution that promotes native American cultural expressions (in theory at the expense of other cultural expressions, but only in theory, as nobody who wished to express, say, their Swedish heritage would plausibly try to submit contributions to this institution, it being, you know, native American to begin with)? Then again, what if a straight-ass business venture of some sort declared that they would only employ native American workers? That would be different, I guess. If there was no cultural element to it, I mean. Then, yet again, a straight-ass business venture might claim that their policy of employing only native Americans (and how do you define who is an according to Hoyle native American, by the way? I believe there are several definitions around, each of them more or less absurd) is actually, in effect, a way of promoting and preserving native American culture (whatever the hell that is at the end of the day). And who could say they were in the wrong? It's hard to prove intentions, whether they be good or bad.
I suppose it all depends - looked at cynically - on the size of yer operation. As long as whatever you're doing isn't on a scale grand enough to cause serious trouble - you're fine. The argument that Bilbao's policy would cause havoc were it to be introduced by all sorts of other teams - is pretty much void. Because most other teams wouldn't have a damn thing to gain from introducing such a policy. That, however, doesn't mean there's nothing debatable about the policy itself. I'd say it is. It's highly debatable, in fact. They are, after all, a team in one of the most prestigious leagues in world football.