Brazil’s newly crowned Fifa World Footballer of the Year Ronaldinho says he is committed in the fight against racism in the sport.
Ronaldinho, who beat out Thierry Henry of France and Ukrainian 2004 European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko for the prize, said the scourge of racism has to be stamped out.
”Personally, I have never been the victim of racism but I got to know about several incidents. That’s why I decided to take part in a campaign against racism with Thierry Henry,” Ronaldinho said at Monday’s gala evening at the Zurich opera house.
”We are trying to get through to football supporters that they must not think of this sort of ideology during the 90 minutes of a football match. I am very committed in the fight against racism.”
Fifa president Sepp Blatter said once again he is determined to eradicate racism from football.
”During the last few weeks and months, football has once more emerged to become the victim of racism,” Blatter said. ”But we need society as a whole to help us.”
Meanwhile, Fifa’s disciplinary commission has decided what action to take following the racist chanting aimed at England players during Spain’s 1-0 victory in Madrid on November 17.
However, Fifa said it will not reveal its decision until Tuesday or even Wednesday. Rumours suggest the Spanish football federation will suffer a severe punishment but Fifa declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Ronaldinho has simply had a great year.
His club, Barcelona, are racing away at the top of the Spanish league and Brazil are well on course to qualify for the 2006 World Cup from South American qualifiers.
Ronaldinho was acclaimed by Pele himself as the best player at the 2002 World Cup and it is not surprising his talent has been finally recognised with this award.
Ronaldinho’s blinding pace unhinged England’s defence in the quarterfinals to set up a goal for Rivaldo, and his audacious free-kick caught out David Seaman to seal a 2-1 victory for Brazil.
Arguably he was the most important component of Brazil’s vaunted ”Triple R” strike force at those 2002 finals, surging forward from just behind Ronaldo and Rivaldo and pulling opposing defenders out of position.
Undoubtedly he was one of the key components of Brazil winning their unprecedented fifth World Cup title.
The award comes after a great year at Barcelona, for whom he signed from PSG for €30-million in July 2003 under the noses of Manchester United who were also courting him.
After a lacklustre first six months in the Catalonian capital, he started to show top form and helped them to an incredible late-season surge that saw them just fail to take the title from eventual champions Valencia.
This season, his confidence has grown under coach Frank Rijkaard and he has blossomed into a truly magnificent player, aided by the excellent Portuguese midfielder Deco.
Ronaldinho said: ”Barcelona have treated me exceptionally well and I didn’t think I would be so well received. I am very happy there. Barcelona is the perfect club for me and I want to go down in history there as a winner.”
His prowess was encapsulated when he scored a superb winner in the dying seconds of Barcelona’s 2-1 Champions League victory over AC Milan at the beginning of November.
The Brazilian went past two Milan defenders and then unleashed a left-foot shot from the edge of the area, which his compatriot Dida had little chance of stopping.
And Brazil are sitting in second spot in the 10-country group of South American teams qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in which Ronaldinho has contributed well. — Sapa-AFP