3 football stars who responded perfectly to racial abuse
Often rival fans take the rivalry too far and start racially abusing opposition. Many footballers around the globe have been subject to discrimination based on their skin colour while playing the game. Despite numerous efforts from FIFA and other authorities to stop the abuse, the incidents have not stopped. This kind of act is not limited only to football, but other games as well.
Recent racial abuse incidents in the Italian and English league tells everyone that it is still widely spread and even the top players in the game are subject to this kind of discrimination.
Racism might affect the performance and the mindset of the player. In the recent incident in Italy, Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly lost his cool after being racially abused and earned himself a red card.
UEFA gave out the following statement after the incident in Italy, "FIFPro and UEFA jointly condemn the racist abuse aimed towards Napoli player Kalidou Koulibaly last Wednesday during a league match at FC Internazionale in Milan. However, FIFPro and UEFA are very concerned by this unacceptable racist incident and by what appears on the surface to be a failure to respect the widely-recognised three-step anti-racism protocol".
Each player might react differently to being racially abused. Here is a look the 3 football stars who reacted perfectly to racial abuse.
#1 Dani Alves
The incident took place during Barcelona's dramatic 3-2 win at Villarreal in 2014. While the defender was about to take the corner, one of the fans threw a banana on the field. Alves surprised everyone when he picked up the banana and started eating it.
"We have suffered this in Spain for some time. You have to take it with a dose of humour,' Alves said. The Brazilian had been a regular target of racial abuse during his time in Spain with both Sevilla and Barcelona.
It was a very powerful move from the Brazilian, which earned him plaudits from fans and players across the globe. His 'banana eating' incident was reported across the world and many players came out in support of the defender. The incident started a massive movement on social media when players from different clubs and countries started posting pictures of them eating a banana.