England vs Montenegro is a sad reminder that racism is still there. Monkey chants, bananas on the pitch, racial slur — that all should be long gone but it is still there. We hope that UEFA and FIFA will continue to positively encourage football fans that racism on and off the pitch doesn’t make sense. We are one big football family and we should be happy about it. We should judge football players based on the performance and not about the colour of their skin.
This article is just the collection of quotes:
“You can’t delete racism. It’s like a cigarette. You can’t stop smoking if you don’t want to, and you can’t stop racism if people don’t want to. But I’ll do everything I can to help”- Mario Ballotelli
‘I had to go down this road by myself. No authorities wanted to take notice.’ — Sol Campbell
“It’s the worst thing you can see. There is no difference between black and white, and religions because that will not make you better than me” — Zlatan Ibrahimovic
“Racism and discrimination of any kind have no place in football” - Sepp Blatter
“I have nothing against monkeys because I’m totally sure that monkey is smarter than a racist” — Mario Ballotelli
“A lot of different races and nationalities play football, so it’s a good way to stop racism” — Thierry Henry
“I don’t understand racism. I have many black friends and many others have been my opponents. Respect is basic. Unfortunately, racism is a social problem, and football belongs to society.” — Francesco Totti
“Enough is enough. That is not why I play football, and I will not sit back and do nothing about it. Racism should never, ever been accepted”- Mesut Ozil on retiring from international football
