Forget the football. Rhian Brewster’s story is about racism, plain and simple | Lola Okolosie

The 17-year-old’s whistleblowing over abuse on the pitch stands in contrast with a governing body that consistently fails to take complaints seriously

Type in Uefa and the word “racism” into Google, and prominent search results tell us the view of European football’s governing body. Uefa wants us to know it says no to racism. In fact, in 2013, its member associations “pledged to step up their efforts to eliminate racism from football” altogether. It’s all rather grand, but what we know is that in recent weeks Uefa’s self-congratulatory stance has been greatly undermined. Revelations from the England Under-17s World Cup-winning forward Rhian Brewster have once again highlighted the perniciousness of the problem.

Related: Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster: ‘When I’m racially abused, I just want to be left alone’

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