Don't bring a black player here - Joe Addo opens up on racism experience in Germany

Former Ghanaian international, Joe Addo has revealed a racism ordeal he suffered while playing in Germany for VfB Stuttgart, citing that he had to spend the night in a team bus because he was the only black player.

Joe Addo enjoyed a 10-year stay in Europe where he played for clubs in Germany, Netherlands, Greece and Portugal.

According to Addo, his days in Germany were the best moments of his career, having played with VfB Stuttgart and FSV Frankfurt from 1993-1996 and 1997.

Speaking to Dan Kwaku Yeboah, the former Hearts of Oak man said “There was a team in Leipzig in East Germany and that was the period where most clubs were joining after the Berlin Wall broke down. When (we) Stuttgart were to go there, the racists there wrote a letter to Stuttgart that, don’t bring the black player here and no club official told me. So, we set off a five-hour journey from Stuttgart to Leipzig and when we arrived at the team, the fans did not allow me to get off the bus so I slept in the bus”

“From the hotel to the stadium, the same fans said they won’t allow me get into the stadium so I did not wear a jersey and I had to stay in the bus until the game was over and we drove back to Stuttgart so I just hated Germany with a passion”, he added.

Addo went to the United States to attend college and play soccer at George Mason University where he was a 1992 First Team All American.

At club level, Addo played for Cagliari Italy, VfB Stuttgart and FSV Frankfurt in Germany, Sparta Rotterdam in Netherlands and Belenenses in Portugal, Ethnikos Piraeus in Greece, Tampa Bay Mutiny, Metro Stars in the United States and Kitchee in Hong Kong.

Addo played for Ghana at the 1996 Summer Olympics for the senior team where he played 44 times for Ghana and scored two goals.

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