Evra v Suarez is only the latest football race row

AFTER Manchester United defender Patrice Evra accused Liverpool forward Luis Suarez of racially abusing him during the match between the two teams on Saturday the issue of racism is back at the top of the football agenda. Great strides have been made in Britain since the 1980s when black players were pelted with bananas and subjected to racist chants from fans, but, as these examples show, the scourge of racism still afflicts the beautiful game.

Paolo Di Canio

The self-proclaimed fascist has tattoos celebrating Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and was once banned for making "Hitler salutes" to the fans of Lazio, who have a history of racism. Although he claims he is a "fascist but not a racist" his appointment as Swindon Town manager this summer did not go down well with the club's sponsor, the GMB trade union. Ending its association with the club, the GMB said: "[Di Canio] has openly voiced support for Mussolini so it beggars belief that Swindon could have appointed him."

Laurent Blanc

The France manager landed in hot water earlier this year after a tape was leaked to French website Mediapart that featured him discussing plans for a "limit" on the number of mixed race players in the France set up. On the same tape Blanc referred to a "prototype" of black players, saying: "What is there that is currently big, strong powerful? The blacks. That's the way it is. It's a current fact." Blanc claimed he was misquoted and was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, although several senior players criticised him.

Real Zaragoza fans

Cameroonian international Eto'o reached breaking point in February 2006 while playing for Barcelona at Real Zaragoza. After 77 minutes of racist abuse from the Zaragoza fans he made to walk off the pitch, mouthing: "No more. No more. No more!" His team-mates persuaded him to keep playing and the home team were fined 9000 Euros. Eto'o, one of the most decorated African players in history, has been a passionate campaigner against what he perceived as a culture of racism in Spain and once stated that he would not take his children to a match in Spain.

Ron Atkinson

The former Manchester United manager was forced to resign from ITV after a notorious piece of punditry about the Chelsea player Marcel Desailly. "He's what is known in some schools as a fucking lazy thick nigger", Atkinson said of the France international during a Champions League match between Chelsea and Monaco in 2004. He thought he was off air but his remarks were broadcast live in some countries. Undeterred, Atkinson went on to insult the Chinese a year later. "I can't understand why there's so many of them because their women are so ugly," Big Ron mused.

England fans

John Barnes was one of the first black players to reach the pinnacle of the English game, but wherever Barnes went in his distinguished career the monkey taunts and bananas followed. Perhaps the best illustration of how unforgiving the abuse was came with the England team at the Macarena stadium in Rio, 1984. The 21-year-old Barnes scored one of the greatest solo goals of all time against Brazil in a 2-0 victory in Rio but in the crowd, members of the National Front still subjected him to a barrage of racist abuse. This continued on the plane home, which Barnes was forced to share with NF members, who told him the score was 1-0 because his goal didn't count.

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