Tottenham star Eric Dier told to “suck it up” by Danny Murphy after complaining of his family being abused

Speaking in a recent interview (h/t Daily Star), Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier claimed that his family was verbally abused in Spurs’ 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on August 14 last month.

The England international called the abuse heard inside stadiums a “huge, huge problem”, due to which his family doesn’t feel comfortable enough to attend away games anymore. Responding to his comments former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said on TalkSPORT (h/t Daily Star):

“I’ve been there, I’ve had it. My mum went to a couple of games, she didn’t like it, so she stopped going. If you can’t put up with some verbals and some detrimental comments… you’re either resilient enough to deal with that and understand the situation you’re in, or you’re not. It’s part and parcel of going to a football match, People pay their money to do it.”

Implying that people pay to go and abuse others in a game is just contributing to the problem. Dier isn’t naive and would know where to draw the line.

Murphy acknowledged that there is a boundary that abuse shouldn’t cross, but that saying that a player had a poor game mixed with expletives is just a poorly expressed opinion. The former Liverpool player continued:

“Come on, you’re a big boy playing for your country! I know it’s not ideal that you feel like your family can’t go to every game if they feel a little bit offended, but that’s just the way it is. So suck it up and get on with it!”

The problem of toxicity within football exists. Those who go to games and are seated in the stadium would attest to it – perhaps if they are themselves not the ones actively contributing to it themselves.

Murphy’s comments are arguably poorly framed and ill-timed. While the pundit, like Dier and everyone else, also has the right to express his opinion, but it’s best not to tell someone to “suck up” abuse and continue.

Instead, there needs to be awareness regarding the issue of abuse and there have to be consequences for perpetrators as well. The notion of football being a game for ‘macho men’ just isn’t true and neither can it be promoted in that matter.

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• Manchester City’s Rodri backs Tottenham Hotspur to challenge for league title
• Tottenham star Harry Kane to wear ‘rainbow’ armband at 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to fight discrimination

The issue of homophobia, racism, sexism, and personal threats is not uncommon among some football fans and there is a fine line that separates all of that from ‘banter. That line must always be well guarded.

Note: These are just excerpts from Murphy’s interview, and a bigger transcript can be found here.