Manchester United striker, Odion Ighalo, has threatened to walk off the pitch if he gets racially abused by fans during a match and if the referee ignores it.
The former Super Eagles forward, who is currently on loan at United from Chinese club, Shanghai Shenhua, also added that he has been called all sorts of names by fans while playing football in China, adding that no player in the world should go through such an experience.
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He said:
If it happens to me I would report it to the referee and see what they do, but if they don’t take action about it then I’m going to walk off because it should not be done to any player or anyone in the world.
In one game in China I got called all sorts of names and after the game, I didn’t shake his hand. I walked straight into the dressing room, I was angry, I reported it to the FA. I didn’t press forward with it, I just let it go because I’m just this kind of guy. I don’t like to drag issues out. But I don’t think it should be condoned in any country.
Nobody should condone racism. We are all human. Despite the colour of our skin, we are all the same, we live in the same world, the same life.
Ighalo further added that he also does not condone riots and admitted that solving the issue might take time.
I don’t condone racism, but at the same time, I don’t condone riots.
It didn’t start today, it’s not going to end today. It’s going to take time. We are hoping this situation can change the narrative and make it more limited. It’s going to reduce it to a minimum.
We are fighting now so that for the next generation it will be cut off, finally. We have to start from the younger generation, educate them, let them see that all humans are the same. We should fight for humanity not colours.
Ighalo’s statement is coming in the wake of the current global movement to eradicate racism following the murder of a black man, George Floyd, by white policemen in Minneapolis, United States, in the month of May.
