Sterling’s stance on racism lauded
Players association praises City star for speaking out
London – The Professional Footballers’ Association said yesterday it stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Raheem Sterling after the Manchester City player suffered alleged racial abuse during his side’s defeat against Chelsea. Chelsea and the police are investigating the incident at Stamford Bridge in London on Saturday, which was highlighted on social media.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Sterling accused British newspapers of helping to “fuel racism” with the way they portray young black footballers.
PFA head of equality and diversity, Simone Pound, said: “Football is a microcosm of society and incidents such as this highlight the current political climate.
“Raheem has made a stand by speaking out and we stand shoulder to shoulder with him against the discrimination of which he speaks.”
A statement from the organisation yesterday added: “The PFA condemn, in the strongest terms, the increase in racial abuse our members have been receiving from the terraces.
“We encourage all clubs to take the strongest possible action for fans found guilty of
racially abusing players.
“We commend Raheem for his professionalism during the incident and the statement he made via Instagram on Sunday.”
In his Instagram post Sterling, 24, referred to a story from January
about City teammate Tosin Adarabioyo reportedly buying an expensive house despite never having started a Premier League match. “The young black kid is looked at in a bad light. Which helps fuel racism an[d] aggressive behaviour,” Sterling wrote.
“So for all the newspapers that don’t understand why people are racist in this day and age all I have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity an[d] give all players an equal chance.” Former England and Liverpool player John Barnes was the victim of persistent racism during his playing days, including monkey chants and having bananas thrown at him.
The 55-year-old feels prejudice and discrimination extend far beyond football and stems from “hundreds of years of indoctrination”. “When people talk about, ‘Oh isn’t that terrible what happened to Raheem Sterling?’, you speak to black people in the inner cities and they say ‘this is what we go through every single day’,” Barnes told the BBC. –