Call for top table to give football racism the boot

Patrice Evra has expressed his dismay after Raheem Sterling was allegedly subjected to racist abuse during Manchester City’s Premier League match at Chelsea on Saturday.

City and England forward Sterling suffered a barrage of insults from home supporters at Stamford Bridge, some of which were allegedly racist in nature.

Evra, the former Manchester United defender who was racially abused by Liverpool’s Luis Suarez in 2011, is incredulous that such incidents could still occur in the modern game.

The Frenchman tweeted: “I saw what happened with @sterling7 yesterday .... How does this happen still in 2018?!.

“It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is or your religion or what country you are from we need to be kind to each other. Love is so much more powerful than hate.”

Lord Ouseley, chairman of the campaign group Kick it Out, has called on figures at the top of the game to take stronger action in dealing with racism. Ouseley believes there is a lack of leadership on the issue.

“What happened at Chelsea shows what is still going on in football,” said Ouseley in a statement.

“Where is (Premier League executive chairman) Richard Scudamore? Where is (Football Association chairman) Greg Clarke? Where is Chelsea’s chairman (Bruce Buck)?

“They should have been talking out last night and it has to (be) dealt with at the top.”

The incident came a week after a banana skin was thrown at Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by a Tottenham supporter.

Sterling was abused by Chelsea fans as he retrieved the ball during the first half of Saturday’s match and footage has since been widely shared on social media.

The 24-year-old responded on Sunday morning with an Instagram post which accused newspapers of “fuelling racism”.