I WAS at Ewood Park on Sunday afternoon to watch an enthralling game of football between Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City.

But, sadly, the action on the pitch has been totally overshadowed by events off it and once again we find ourselves talking about football for all the wrong reasons.

When I left the ground on Sunday evening I was completely oblivious to the storm that was about to be whipped up.

I, like 20,000 others, had witnessed all the stick that Dwight Yorke had been getting from disgruntled Rovers supporters but it never once entered my head that there was any hint of racist undertones.

I didn't hear a single racist chant, I didn't see any racist gestures, and all the people I've spoken to since who were also at the match have said exactly the same thing.

What I did witness was several thousand supporters accusing Yorke of being lazy - an accusation which, let's face it, is fully justified given the nature of his performances in a Blackburn shirt.

If it turns out Yorke was indeed racially abused by a couple of mindless idiots then I hope the relevant authorities come down on the culprits like a ton of bricks.

I would never condone racism in any walk of life and people who hurl racist abuse are the lowest of the low.

It certainly has no place in football and I was thoroughly disgusted by the sickening abuse England suffered in Spain last week.

However, to draw comparisons between that and what happened at Ewood Park on Sunday is totally wrong and I can't help feeling the media have blown the incident out of all proportion.

Over the last few days, every national newspaper in the land has been quick to pounce on the story and, in some cases, the facts have not been allowed to get in the way of a good headline.

If it is proved that there was racist taunts then we are talking about the actions of one - or possibly two - individuals.

That, of course, is still one or two too many but the reputation of the whole club has been tarnished in the last few days when Rovers probably do more than anyone to stamp racism out.

I can't help feeling Dwight has used this as a smokescreen, too.

He got one of the worst receptions I've seen from the Blackburn public as a former Rovers player but the point that 99.999 per cent of the fans were trying to make was he didn't give the club value for money, it had nothing to do with the colour of his skin.

It was a general outpouring of dissatisfaction at the level of service he gave to the club and the fans have every right to air those views because they helped to pay his wages.

You can forgive a footballer for most things but when you have a player who probably earns more in a week than the majority of those on the Blackburn End earn in a year then you're going to get angry if he doesn't appear to be putting in the effort.

That, of course, is still no excuse for racist abuse. But maybe Dwight is hiding behind that to shield himself from a different form of criticism.