Abuse Breaches Our Human Rights, Says Campbell

Footballers' human rights are being breached by fans who hurl verbal abuse at them, England's Sol Campbell said today, as he demanded action from the Football Association to deal with the problem.

The Portsmouth captain said players had been let down by the FA, which had "buried its head in the sand" on the issue, and suggested tougher sanctions such as fines were required.

"If this happened on the street, you would be arrested," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today program. "This is the 21st century and this is a human rights situation where sportsmen and managers are trying to do their job professionally and people are abusing them verbally. It has gone too far."

Throwing individuals out of grounds would help, he said, but wider action was needed as thousands of fans were still directing foul language at players. "You look at the clubs and ask them to control their fans, or fines or anything. You have to do it in another way," he said.

Campbell, who plans to meet the FA, said: "They have let us down because they have allowed this to continue, sat idle, head in the sand, and tried to brush it under the carpet. People say you've got to be immune to this ... but I am playing football, I should not be subjected to that kind of abuse, it's out of order now. People are letting this go by and not saying anything about it in the papers, the clubs are doing nothing about it.

The player, still a hate figure among some Tottenham fans over his 2001 departure to their bitter rivals Arsenal, spoke out after facing hostility from them during Saturday's Premier League fixture at Fratton Park. "I know some people may be a little bit disgruntled about the way I left certain clubs or club. I totally understand that," he said. "But when you get to that level of verbal abuse ... it's got to stop."

The FA insists it is actively working to prevent abuse from supporters in the stands. "There is legislation in place to deal with abusive, threatening and racist behavior by ejecting and arresting offending individuals. Put simply, it is against the law," an FA spokesman said. "The FA lobbied hard for such tough policies. It is for individual clubs - working with the police if necessary - to enforce these laws."