Football: Andy Gray column: Silence the idiots

RACISM raised it ugly head again in Europe last week when Thierry Henry was subjected to totally unacceptable abuse.

I have been lucky enough to be part of the tremendous atmosphere at The Belfry, where sportsmanship has been tremendous.

After Brookline there were genuine fears that there could be some serious problems during this Ryder Cup, but everyone has so far acted impeccably.

That's why it saddens me that in Europe we still have racist morons on the terraces. These people have no place in sport.

Apart from the odd idiot, we have virtually stamped it out over here - but for some reason it is still alive and well in some other countries, particularly Holland.

It's difficult to know what to do. OK, if the person responsible is identified then ban him or her from football for life. But it's a bit unfair to punish the clubs because they have no control.

Thierry says if he is subjected to more racist abuse then he will consider walking off the pitch.

That would be understandable, but there is a much better way of dealing with it and that is to continue playing, score a great goal, and send a message to these fools in the best way possible by beating the team they support.

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