Racism still becomes a serious problem in football. As if it cannot be avoided, these actions have continued to occur in recent years.
There are in fact, some players who also received racist treatment in their own country. Who are these players? Footchampion presents these following threads…
1.Mario Balotelli
A player full of controversy, Mario Balotelli, was once surprised by a banner that displayed clearly insulting him.
When Italy faced Saudi Arabia, Balotelli who was plotted as the captain then received a response from the Italian people in the form of a large banner that was written: “our captain is just an Italian.”
It is known that Balotelli is an Italian player of Ghana descent.
- Mesut Ozil
In the middle of his performance which was getting worse, Ozil made a very surprising decision. He decided to quit as a German national team player.
The reason for the resignation was very heartbreaking. Ozil, who was actually an important player for the Panzer team, had to back down because he received racist treatment from his own federations.
In his post on social media, Ozil wrote,
“I was German when we won, but I am an immigrant when we lost.”
- Romelu Lukaku
The Belgian national team striker, Romelu Lukaku, admitted that he also received the same double standards as Ozil got.
“When I played well, I was Lukaku from Belgium, but when I played badly, I was called a Belgian striker of Congolese descent.”
Lukaku claimed he was disappointed and could not understand the treatment of the belgian.
- Nicolas Anelka
The same thing happened to Nicolas Anelka.
When the French national team was enjoying a great match, none of its citizens were concerned about skin color. But when France played badly, all of them will blame the players who were not a native France.
Anelka had often received such treatment and claimed to be very disappointed. He also stopped playing for the French national team.
- Karim Benzema
It seems that France has a problem with education to respect others as Karim Benzema became the next player to have received racist treatment from the crowd.
He claimed to have been harassed because he was not of a French origin.
“When I scored, I was French. When I don’t score, I’m an Arab. “
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The living legend of Swedish football, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, may be seen as the most valuable footballer in his country. But it turns out that Ibra is not as valuable as he was seen.
At least that was what he felt, considering the racist treatment carried out by various media in his country.
“Until now they are still attacking me because they do not accept my identity as Ibrahimovic,”
“Even though I might be the best player in Swedish history and even though I have done everything that other Swedish players have never done.”
- Anton Ferdinand
A British player, Anton Ferdinand has also received racist treatment in his own country. This time, the insult came from a player who was also from England, John Terry.
The former Chelsea captain, John Terry was charged with issuing racist insults. When they met in a match, Terry insulted Anton Ferdinand as ‘black’.
That statement hurt Anton Ferdinand.
- Mario Balotelli
AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli was again the target of racism. This time the culprit was a group of Inter Milan fans. Racist songs were addressed to Balotelli at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Balotelli had palyed for Inter in 2006 to 2010. The Italian was part of the Nerazzurri squad which successfully captured the treble winners.
But because of his different skin color, he got racist treatment in his own country.
- Raheem Sterling
Appear in the competition in his own country. Raheem Sterling received racist treatment.
Sterling got racism from Chelsea supporters when his team, Manchester City, beat 0-2 at Stamford Bridge. In the match, the Blues supporters were caught on camera cheering Sterling who was taking the ball out of the field.
Even so, Sterling had been flooded with supports. The British Professional Footballers Association (PFA) had issued a statement strongly condemning the act of racism over its England national player.
- Mario Balotelli
Again, Balotelli got a terrible insult. The younger brother of the AC Milan former owner, Paolo Berlusconi, made a racist utterance to this former Liverpool player.
Before the match, as reported by Soccerway, Paolo Berlusconi was campaigning in Lombardy. He then said an inappropriate thing. He shouted, “Let’s watch our Negro player.”
AC Milan, which was the club where Mario Balotelli played for, was very sorry for the action. Since then, that San Siro-based team has often made anti-racist calls.
Those are some of the players who got racist treatment in their own country. How is it, football lovers? Please write your comments below and don’t forget to like and share…
