Birmingham players Troy Deeney and Neil Etheridge have called for more to be done around racism in football, with the striker comparing the culture inside grounds to the film 'The Purge'.
Deeney was racially abused by one of Birmingham's own supporters last month, while goalkeeper Etheridge also experienced racism from the stands during a recent game against Blackburn.
The pair sat down with Sky Sports News' Miriam Walker-Khan to discuss the recent incidents and why harsher punishments are needed for perpetrators.
Deeney said that when fans get together inside stadia, they feel like they can do whatever they want - similar to 'The Purge', a movie in which people are able to commit crimes for a 12-hour period without being punished.
"I think the reason why it's so important and the reason that we teamed up in terms of what we're trying to do to shed light, it's not a black issue, it's not an Asian issue - it's an issue of discrimination across the board," Deeney explained to Sky Sports News.
"We try to marginalise it too. Talking about race, everyone thinks it's just happening to black players, but it's not. It's happening to people of different origins, happening with women in the workplace, all of these different things.
"But it's like we try and separate loads and little things so then we actually never tackle the root cause. So the reason we feel so powerful about this is because if we come together and make the same noises now more people are involved, more eyes and ears about it and also different ethnicities are being registered just as much.
"We [Deeney and Etheridge] have spoken about it personally, but the culture of football at the moment, or not at the moment, since maybe the 70s, has been one of 'The Purge'.
"You come into a football ground, all societal rules are out the window, we can say what we want, we can do what we want because it happened at the football.
"But then you flip it and a footballer's responsibility is now to be a role model, to help out charities, to be the best of the best, and by the way, doing it in an environment where everybody else doesn't have to act with any consequences towards you or your family. I don't know any other line of work where that happens."
Deeney reiterated his point on marginalisation when also discussing online abuse, believing many perceive racial discrimination as only occurring on social media platforms, rather than in the stands.
He added: "Ever since the George Floyd situation and the amount of online abuse at the three lads got from England at the Euros [Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were racially abused online after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final], we all seem to think it's online abuse now.
"We've again marginalised it - it only happens there so these players should just turn off the notifications. It's always the individual that should be do something, not the person or the people that have decided they're going to be abusive or whatever.
"Again, where's the accountability on the other person? Apparently, footballers are all highly overpaid or uneducated and silly role models? Our kids shouldn't be looking at footballers.
"On the flip side to that, we should be role models and we should take the higher level of moral standpoint and the person who's been immature, being uneducated or being foul at times is fine because that person works a normal job and that person is more relatable. It's so backwards and the mentality in this country has to change."
