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Racism in football still seems to exist as there have been series of reports from media organizations about fans and lovers of sports engaging in this shameful act.
The most recent scenario was that of Ghanaian veteran midfielder, Sulley Muntari, who was racially abused by home fans of Cagliari when his team, Pescara faced off against the Rossoblu (nickname for Cagliari) in a Serie A match last weekend.
Other players who have been targeted in the past include Kevin Prince-Boateng and Mario Balotelli.
The players were subjected to racist taunts of monkey sounds and even had banana tossed at them at different times playing for Serie A side, AC Milan.
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With the World cup to be hosted in Russia next year, some fans have expressed their displeasure about Russia hosting the tournament, with the Country’s unsavory abuse record and particularly for racism.
Examples of players who have been racially abused in Russia are Brazil International, Hulk during his time with FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Former Arsenal player, Emmanuel Frimpong was also a victim.
However, despite this reports FIFA has dug its heels in and is backing Russia to deliver a controversy-free event in 2018.
In the past FIFA created the ” No to Racism ” initiative to fight the scourge. UEFA also created ” Respect ” as their own awareness programmes.
If racism in football is going to be eradicated, footballing organizations would have to be more exposed to how racism works in football and create punishments for this shameful acts.
The article is written by Abdulmueez Alao
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