Former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah speaks on racism

Former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah has voiced his thoughts on racism, indicating that the aim of the discriminatory act is to distract black players that pose a threat to their team.

Racism against black players mainly in Europe has seen major rise in scrutiny following the global protests against racial injustices which was sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in the United States.

In an interview with South African journalist, Carol Tsabalala, the former Brescia ace stated the fans that engage in the discriminatory act do so on the basis of distracting black players who are a threat to their team.

"I’ve never experienced racism but I’ve been in games where the opponent’s fans are trying to disturb [abuse] black players and all that."

“I think that at times they do when the player is a threat to them so they try to distract you and make you lose concentration so you can’t perform well."

“For others too, that’s just how they are, it’s their habit. That’s how they see us [black players] and I think it’s very bad."

“For years, African players, South American players, players with brown skin; we have tried to send messages but it’s never changing."

“But personally, I’ve never experienced that.”

A number of Ghanaian players including Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari have fallen victims of racism chants.

Appiah spent eight years in Italy, playing for the likes of Udinese, Brescia, Parma and Juventus in an illustrious career before leaving to join Turkish giants Fernabahce in 2005.