Sunil Chhetri racially abused during live Instagram session with Virat Kohli
Sunil Chhetri was at the end of a racist slur during his Instagram live session with Virat Kohli on Sunday. The current Bengaluru FC captain shares a good bond with the current Indian cricket team skipper as they both hail from New Delhi and were seen sharing good camaraderie during the session too.
It turned out to be an entertaining session until one Instagram account by the name of 'yasharma.official' commented on the live video and wrote 'Ye Nepali kon h'. Leading football followers in India condemned the action after a fan posted the screenshot of the racial abuse Sunil Chhetri faced, on Twitter.
For any person, let alone the most accomplished Indian footballer aka Sunil Chhetri, such an insult is extremely disheartening and reveals the underlying problems that exist currently in the society. So far, it is unknown if Sunil Chhetri is mindful of the racist comment but he has been vocal over that particular issue for a while now.
Sunil Chhetri has previously condemned racist slurs
When people from the north-east parts of India were subjected to racist abuse in certain Indian cities, Sunil Chhetri didn't take too long to respond to defend his fellow citizens.
“I think people who are doing it, and who understand the difference, are just ignorant. It's just not right. You shouldn't do it. Imagine if the virus had originated from a place where people looked like you, or from your region. Let’s suppose you are working in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam or Sikkim, and people hound you or bully you or trouble you. How will you feel?" Sunil Chhetri said to Quint.
This is the second racial abuse a footballer has faced over the past week. Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright was subjected to racist messages from a teenager on Instagram. He took to Twitter and wrote "I know I'm not meant to look at them but these messages still hit me so hard man. This is a child!!!"
It is understood that police are investigating this case to shun down the racism in this world. Since racist comments have been passed way too easily these days, players including Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling have spoken out about the issue. However, rather unfortunately, it seems that the society hasn't been rid of that demon for now.