Ifill: Iwish I’d walked off after racial abuse
Wellington Phoenix legend Paul Ifill has applauded players from Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir for taking a stand against racism by walking off the field in their Champions League encounter yesterday.
The retired professional footballer wished he had been brave enough to do the same when he was racially abused by an Adelaide United supporter during an A-League game in Australia eight years ago.
‘‘Because the conversations are happening more and more, people can feel like they will get that support. I probably didn’t feel I’d get the support that I would’ve needed to just walk off the pitch,’’ Ifill said.
‘‘I look back and think I probably wasn’t brave enough to take that step, and I really wish I had. It would’ve started the conversation a long time ago.’’
Eight years ago, Ifill was racially abused by an Adelaide supporter while playing for the Phoenix. Ifill said he was alerted by the coaching staff once he had been substituted that a man, who was surrounded by children, had been making monkey noises whenever he touched the ball.
The Adelaide supporter received a two-year ban but never apologised to Ifill, who was denied an opportunity to speak with the perpetrator in the aftermath.
‘‘Whenever I got the ball he was making monkey noises and calling me amonkey,’’ he said.
‘‘He was stood with kids all around him. There was a four or five year-old kid right next to him, and that’s when the education comes in. Those kids see that, a grown man, no-one is telling him that it’s wrong, and those kids go to school the next day, and I think of the racial abuse I had to deal with at school. If nothing is done or said, it’s just a vicious cycle.
‘‘I was never contacted by anybody. I actually would’ve liked to have spoken to the guy. I would’ve liked to have asked him a couple of questions and I think I should’ve been allowed.’’
‘‘I look back and think I probably wasn’t brave enough to take that step, and I really wish I had.’’ Paul Ifill on not walking from the field after being racially abused during an A-League match