Pep: Players should walk off in face of racist abuse
CITY boss Pep Guardiola supports protocols which could lead to players walking off the field should they be subjected to racial abuse.
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger was allegedly subjected to racist abuse from the crowd at Tottenham on Sunday.
The Germany international claimed he was subjected to a monkey chant in the 2-0 win.
He complained to captain Cesar Azpilicueta and referee Anthony Taylor stopped the game. Three announcements were then made on the public address system saying: “Racist behaviour among spectators is interfering with the game”.
It was the first time such announcements have been made at a Premier League game, making it another dark day for English football in a season that has been blighted by racist behaviour from fans.
Guardiola says the problem is a societal one, of which football is a part, and fears eradicating it fully could be a long process.
“Of course. I support my players, I support the initiative.
“What happened, you have to battle day by day. It’s not about one club or one person or anything specific that happened.
“In the football world it is more in vision because every game, every week, every day, a lot of actions happen but it is a battle we have to fight every day, in schools especially, in the families at home to try to make a better society in the future for the next generation.
“I don’t think it will be completely eradicated. We have to fight but we will need a lot of time to eradicate it.”
And Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho said that there was a wider issue of racism in British society that had to be addressed.
“Society needs help,” said the former United boss. “And then football is a micro-society. We need to eradicate any form of discrimination and in this case we are talking about racism. Football and society needs help.”