Racism blights motor racing and cricket

By John Mehaffey

LONDON (Reuters) - Abuse directed at Grand Prix racer Lewis Hamilton in Spain and an ugly confrontation between the India and Australia cricket sides provide depressing evidence that racism continues to blight international sport.

Hamilton, Formula One's first black driver, was booed and insulted by spectators who shouted racial abuse during testing at the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona last month.

India threatened to cut short their tour of Australia when spinner Harbhajan Singh was banned for three tests after the Australians complained that he had made racist comments about Andrew Symonds during the second test in Australia.

The suspension was overturned on appeal and Harbhajan was charged with the lesser offence of using abusive language.

Motorsport's governing body the FIA plans to use the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on April 27 to launch an anti-racism campaign. It will work in conjunction with soccer's "Kick it Out" and "Football against Racism in Europe" organisations.

Piara Powar, director of the London-based "Kick it Out", told Reuters in an interview that television images and photographs showed quite clearly Hamilton's race was being used to attack him.

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He said the problem had clearly been an isolated one, however.