NIGERIAN football legend JJ Okocha has revisited some racist attacks he received in his decorated career on Europe.
He made the revelations in an interview with footbal blogger called Sheyblogger.
“This is a true story about racîsm. When I first got to Germany, Europe, the rate of racîsm there was very high. Infact, I never knew I was blâck till I moved to Europe and so I thought of a lēgal way to pay them back. So I started dribbling them. Sometimes I would dribble all the defenders and the goalkeeper, reach the goal post, come back and double dribble all of them again before scoring just to show them bläck sũpremacy. I dribbled them so hard that some even ate grass.” Jay Jay Okocha
When you look at all these, you’ll understand why only one bläck footballer has ever won a Balon D’or even with the great football players Africa has produced over the years.
Racism is not only Europe, go outside and you’ll find them, too. In Australia, where there were monkey noises and fascist chanting during last year’s Australia Cup final. In South America, where matches in the continent’s biggest competition, the Copa Libertadores, have been blighted by monkey chants. In North Africa, where Black players from visiting teams from sub-Saharan Africa have complained of being targets of racist chants by Arab fans.
The manifestation of a deeper societal problem, racism is a decades-old issue in soccer — predominantly in Europe but seen all around the world — that has been amplified by the reach of social media and a growing willingness for people to call it out. And to think that it was only 11 years ago that Sepp Blatter, the president of soccer governing body FIFA at that time, denied there was any racism in the game, saying any abuse should be resolved with a handshake.
The Black player currently subjected to the most vicious, relentless and high-profile racist insults is Vinicius Junior, a 22-year-old Brazilian who plays for Real Madrid, the most successful soccer team in Europe.
It was around the neck of an effigy of Vinicius that a rope was tied and the figure hung from an overpass near Madrid’s training ground in the Spanish capital in January. It was Vinicius who, two weeks ago in perhaps a defining incident for the Spanish game, was reduced to tears on the field during a match after confronting a fan who called him a monkey and made monkey gestures toward him.
It’s Vinicius who is emerging as the leading Black voice in the fight against racism, which continues to stain the world’s most popular sport.
“I have a purpose in life,” he said on Twitter, “and if I have to keep suffering so that future generations won’t have to go through these types of situations, I’m ready and prepared.”
Vinicius’ biggest concern is that Spanish soccer authorities are doing little to stop the abuse, leading to racism being an accepted part of soccer in a country where he has played since he was 18.
Meanwhile,when Nigeria played Zimbabwe, Okocha’s dribbling wizadry cost top football pundit Charles Mabika his job after he waxed lyrical about Okocha’s skill in a manner that was deemed ‘unpatriotic’ by his paymasters.
Source: Africa News/Sheyblogger
