Racism getting worse as fans are becoming more stupid, says Toure

Yaya Toure, the former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder, believes racism in football is worsening because “fans are more stupid than before”.

There have been increased incidences of racism this year. Last month, Brescia’s Mario Balotelli – a former team-mate of Toure – called supporters who shouted racist abuse at him “small-minded” and “imbeciles”, while Cagliari fans made monkey noises towards Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku earlier in the season.

This month, Italian newspaper

Corriere dello Sport was criticised for the headline “Black Friday” alongside images of Roma defender Chris Smalling and Lukaku.

But the problem is not restricted to Italy. A man was arrested after this month’s Manchester derby for allegedly making a racist gesture.

Toure has spoken with Fifa about what can be done, but knows there is no quick fix.

“I’ve had a chat with Fifa because this is something very important which we have to look at carefully,” the former Ivory Coast international said. “I know it will be difficult because the way to win this case is going to be very long.

“Fans, people, now are more stupid than before. Of course it is shocking because we are in 2019. In 2020, 2025 we have the kids coming through – what are we going to do? You can’t continue like that.”

Toure is in Doha at the Club World Cup as a guest of Fifa and, while he was not too impressed with Liverpool’s last-gasp win over Monterrey in the semi-final, he believes Jurgen Klopp’s side are well set to win the Premier League ahead of City.

“Liverpool are great, they are doing very well and they deserve their position at the moment,” Toure said. “There is a long way to go but Liverpool are a good side and they look much stronger than last year.

“The way I see City is their form this year has been quite complicated but, 10 points in front, Liverpool have a good, good chance.

“When you see the league today, there are a few teams who are quite disappointed, like Arsenal and a couple of others, but Liverpool have the chance to have the honours this year.”

Toure is a fan of Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, whom he believes will win next month’s African Player of the Year prize and should have won the Ballon d’or, which was awarded to Lionel Messi, instead of finishing fourth.

“To be honest, he deserved to win the Ballon d’or first. In Africa, we don’t see any better players than him,” the Ivorian said.

“Did you see the votes? Did you see what he did in the last year, how many goals he scored, what he achieved with Liverpool? For me, it is a shame when a team wins this trophy [the Champions League] and the winner of the Ballon d’or is not coming from there.”