Sorry seems to be the hardest word for Okunbor’s abusers

STEFAN Okunbor has revealed that he is yet to receive a single apology from any of the perpetrators of the racist abuse that he has received.

After the former Kerry minor and under-20 player bravely opened his heart on his experiences in an emotional article over a week ago, the Na Gaeil clubman has been inundated with messages of support from all corners of Ireland and further afield.

In an wide ranging interview with The Kerryman today, Okunbor admitted that, despite the huge publicity and debate that his words have instigated, there has been no apologies from any of his abusers.

“Will any good come from all this?

Will people learn their lesson? I have got great positive feedback, but I have received no apologies for the three incidents that occurred on the playing fields,” he said.

“Those three boys are all roughly the same age as me. There is no doubt but that they would have seen my article or heard about it during the week.

“Not everybody is a paragon of virtue, anybody can say something that they later regret, but it takes a lot of courage to accept that you were wrong. Some people are too stubborn to admit that.

“Nine times out of ten, the person who receives the racist abuse will always remember those incidents. It’s so hard to remove it from your mind. I’m willing to forgive if people are willing to change. Everybody makes mistakes,” he added.

Lifting the lid for the first time, the 21-year-old told The Kerryman that the third incident he is referring to happened in his last game in the green and gold jersey – the All-Ireland under-20 semi-final against Kildare in 2018. Kerry were beaten by a point.

“This was a heated affair, and at halftime one of their players told me to go back to my own country. Another Kerry player witnessed it happening. It was my send-off with Kerry that I wasn’t going to forget in a hurry.

“I haven’t spoken about this to anybody, not even my own family. If I had reported it at the time, that player might not have been able to go on and win an All-Ireland medal. That still digs away a bit at me.”

In an overall context, however, the Tralee man, currently plying his trade with the Geelong Cats in the AFL, has been delighted with the response to the publication of his experiences on growing up as a black man in Ireland.

“There has definitely been a weight lifted off my shoulders. Now I have shared my experiences with friends and family and stuff, the feeling that really brings joy into my heart is seeing other players speaking out.

“It has been everything that I anticipated and intended. Everything has been great.

“This was never a matter of me being happy, this was not about me. This was about other players gaining that confidence to share their own experiences,” he stressed.