‘I am a slave’ was the headline gracing the Manchester Evening News sports page on Friday 11th July 2008. The headline related to the ongoing saga of whether the Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo is to remain at the club or transfer to pastures new. Ronaldo was apparently agreeing with statements made by FIFA president Sepp Blatter who claimed ‘In football there’s too much modern slavery’.
Although such statements are often born out of frustration and ignorance, equating millonaire footballers with those that have suffered from, and those still bound by, slavery is disturbing.
Should those who make such statements be brought to task, or is it simply a case of political correctness gone mad?
To me the phrase ‘political correctness gone mad’ means ‘someone is challenging my privilege and I don’t like it’.