Samuel Eto'o moves to Russia's Anzhi Makhachkala

Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o has moved from Serie A's Inter Milan to Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala, bringing to an end a two-year Italian sojourn which saw him win the Chammpions' League for the third time.

He joins a team which since an ownership change early this year has made a number of audacious bid for stars, most notably for Brazilian starlet Neymar.

courtesy: dailymail.co.uk

With his transfer now confirmed, Eto'o will play alongside fellow high-paid players such as Russia's Yuri Zhirkov, formerly of Chelsea; Hungary forward Balasz Dzsudzsak and immortal Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos. Anzhi, in their second year back in the Russian Premier League, have spent a reported €25 million of new owner Suleyman Kerimov's hard-earned billions on the four-time African Player of the Year. The deal will make him amongst - if not the - highest paid player in the world.

At age 30 and having achieved (nearly) everything possible for an African player, he has agreed a deal to move to a region of Russia which has developed a reputation for violence. Russia, with a rapidly improving top division should provide enough challenges for Eto'o and a fiscal package far in excess of what he'd be able to earn at the Nerazzurri.

Though he has signed, any security concerns the Cameroon national may harbor have not been totally assuaged. Roberto Carlos recently came out saying the region's security situation was far improved and overstated - however this must be superimposed upon his own experience after receiving death threats while playing for Corinthians. This article from the Independent explains the situation particularly well.

Russian football has also suffered from outbreaks of racial intolerance. Having faced such bigotry before, Eto'o may have to do so again. In essence, he has sacrificed competition and perhaps an element of security by signing on in Dagestan. If he feels comfortable with rumours of armed insurgency, then the only sacrifice is of competition.

Samuel Eto'o has won everything there is to win: an Olympic Gold Medal, two European trebles and three UCL wins amongst numerous domestic titles and cups. When Inter Milan shaping up as a good but not particularly great side this year, what does he have to fuel his competitive instincts? Better to take the money - and the prospect of building a winner - in Russia.

For him, one final, massive, payday is worth any potential risks.

France's racial quota system, unraveled

It was alleged recently by the website Mediapart that some high-up officials within the France national football setup investigated capping the number of "ethnic" players allowed places in national Youth training schemes. This cap, it has been suggested, would enable more white players to progress to the France international team. According to The Guardian, the French football federation is investigating reports that management approved a 30% quota of black players and youngsters north African heritage; harking back to the days of ultra right-wing leaders criticising the racial composition of Les Bleus.

Race in the French national football setup has been more of an issue since the 1998 World Cup Champion French side was accused of being "too black". Such bigoted messages have cropped up irregularly since then but an undercurrent of dissatisfaction remains across national youth lines as several high-profile graudates of French academies now play for other nations - players such as Arsenal centre-forward Marouane Chamakh and Tottenham's centre-back Sebastien Bassong.

While France manager Laurent Blanc (among others) has strenuously denied these allegations, he too is implicated. He recently said the comments were taken out of context and his focus in the reported meetings was to deter youth-system graduates from representing other countries. Blanc, a member of the '98 World Cup Champs, when taking over from Raymond Domenech was charged first with uniting a fractious dressing room which imploded publicly imploded during the 2010 World Cup. Among the most high-profile dissidents in that incident were Patrice Evra, Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribéry - two black players and a French-born convert to Islam - further fuelling slanderous gossip that the non-white element were the chief troublemakers. This manifested horribly in comments attributed to Blanc that Spain had no problems because they had no black players.

As always, blinkered thinking of this type deserves all the ridicule it receives. It is also, according to French law, illegal and unconstitutional: to even ask a person's religion or ethnicity for the purposes of statistics is an offence. Whether a player is born in Senegal (Patrick Vieira), has Algerian parents (Zinedine Zidane) or is born in Boulogne but converts to Islam (Ribéry) has no bearing on this abiilty to play football. Therefore, any prejudice against these elements is repugnant and petty.

To suggest capping so-called "ethnic involvement" is also eventually self-defeating. To examine such a principle in purely sporting terms, fans appreciate and flock to teams who are either successful or those who play attractive football, thereby supporting them financially. Decreasing results leads to a decreasing fan-base: just ask Paul Roos or the Melbourne Victory. The old adage states that "Success breeds success" and with sport, it administered correctly, the adage is correct: success leads to money, more fan involvement and youth development.

By withdrawing, say, 70% of those of north African heritage or black players from the 1998 World Champions leads perhaps to neither Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram, Christian Karembeu or Patrick Vieira playing for Les Bleus. Only Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Bernard Diomede and Bernard Lama remain in the '98 squad. Do you really see France triumphing over Brazil - or even making the second round - without such players? Do the same with Australia's 2006 World Cup squad and watch Australia fail again in the playoff against Uruguay, if even they made it that far.

Ask any football fan if they would prefer a fictitious mediocre uniracial team or an excellent club with players of varying ethic extraction. In 99.5% of cases or more, they'll choose the one that wins most. Although the global situation has improved somewhat from the dark ages of racism, isolated incidents prove that we, as a sporting public, still have a long way to come. Discrimination on the basis of heritage - as well as sexuality, religion or other reasons - has no place in sport. Should Blanc and other nameless faces within FFF be found complicit with such bigotry, they should be removed.

Steven Davies coming out a badge of courage

Steven Davies' decision to come out of the closet in a recent interview with the English newspaper The Daily Telegraph is perhaps the most important sports story of the year so far. It may even retain that title throughout 2011. Hopefully it will help to dispel an aura of homophobia that surrounds sports like low cloud. The first openly gay international cricketer, Davies should be congratulated for his courage. Given the machismo of sport - and sadly, much of society - which looks down on homosexuality, his decision can't have been an easy one and may earn him unwarranted abuse from bigoted fans. It should also draw him plaudits for honesty and strength.

The list of openly gay professional athletes is not a long one. In Australia, the first openly gay big-name professional sportsman was Ian Roberts of South Sydney, Manly and North Queensland who revealed his sexual preference in 1995. Since then, the Australian list has been a slim one: our most visible "out" athletes now include Roberts, beach volleyballer Natalie Cook and 2008 Olympic gold medallist Matthew Mitcham, one of only eleven openly gay male athletes - of nearly eleven thousand males - at those games.

Many - most - sports have a lot to learn when it comes to dealing with bigotry. The horror stories still remain of Justin Fashanu, whose career and then life were shattered by coming out in 1990. His former manager, Brian Clough, with whom Fashanu butted heads at Nottingham Forest over football and lifestyle differences, has admitted that his treatment of football's only openly gay player was his greatest regret. Fashanu, who took his own life after a controversy in America in 1998, is remembered by The Justin Campaign (http://www.thejustincampaign.com/), formed to oppose homophobia in football and thus aiming to prevent any possible repeat occurrences. Fashanu' story probably dwells heavily and understandably in the minds of closeted homosexual footballers.

Sepp "Bellend" Blatter recently underlined the need for organisations such as The Justin Campaign and offended many with his recent suggestions that gay men "refrain" from sexual activities during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. That gaffe came from the head of one of the most powerful organisations on Earth, albeit a head with a large and misshapen mouth from repeated attempts at swallowing his own foot.

In America, the story isn't much different. Former NBA Centre John Amaechi wrote in his autobiography that his coach in Utah, Jerry Sloan, suspected his sexual preference and bullied him for it. Amaechi, like Fashanu and Davies, stands alone as the only gay player to come out from his sport's top level.

Homosexuality has been wrongly perceived, in male environments especially, as a threat or as a disease. Both perceptions are majorly flawed but the stigma attached to being gay refuses to go away. Davies' example should be lauded as another step forward, small but significant, against bigotry in sport. Like all battles, this war will be made up of one skirmish after another: for every Steve Davies there will be a Tim Hardaway. Victimisation has no place in sport or life, whether it be against race, colour, religion or sexuality. It is not only the actions of people like Davies, Amaechi & Mitcham who will change the way homosexuality is viewed, but the actions of society at large.