From combating racism to how it felt like playing against your favourite club growing up, here are a few things that present and former players had to say.
Christian Kabasele, a Watford player, has spoken about being the victim of racism on French television. The Belgian national revealed that he received racist remarks and abuse online and while playing during his time in Belgium and Bulgaria. In an interview during RMC Sport’s Le Vestiaire, the player called for stronger action to combat this type of behaviour.
‘It’s a shame to always talk about this scourge at the moment’, he said. ‘I received 10 or 20 racist messages. On these accounts, there must be about the same number that were checked and nothing happened because Instagram did not find any violent comments or violations of the rules for using this social network, it is quite incredible. I suffered monkey chants during a match when I was playing Genk. To denounce it, I posted a photo of myself under a monkey and I asked whether or not I looked like him. The next day my post was deleted by Instagram, giving me a warning because I was violating the rules of use’.
The player is an avid supporter of the club’s We Campaign, whose purpose is to combat discriminatory behaviour with the help of the Hertfordshire police. ‘You have to tell the young people that these are not things that are done, it is a question of education’, he continued. ‘If a young person sees someone or several members of his family speaking thus, he will reproduce it. Someone has to tell him it can’t be done’.
In similar news, former Watford striker Odion Ighalo revealed that when he was still playing for the Hornets, he had to be calmed down by Troy Deeney when they faced Manchester United since he was eager to score against the club he has been supporting since he was a child. Now, Ighalo is a player on United’s roster.
‘Yeah, I could remember the game at Old Trafford, we lost 1-0. The game was so emotional for me’, he said during an interview. ‘I remember Troy Deeney was telling me you have to calm down, because I was eager to score against Man United. Even some of the balls that I had close to the area I was supposed to pass it, but I wanted to shoot, I wanted to score myself, so Troy was not happy. You have to pass the ball’.
‘There was that passion, because I wanted to create history that I scored against my boyhood club, the club I was supporting when I was young. That is the passion I had when I played against United and now I will be playing for United, so I just hope I just gel well and don’t let emotions take the better part of what I am going to do’, he said. ‘When I was still playing with Watford, we played against Liverpool at Vicarage Road where I scored two goals and won that game 3-0. It was fantastic because nobody could imagine that Watford was going to beat Liverpool because they are a big side. It was one of the best moments of my life and my career’.