I used to get bananas thrown at me - Gerald Asamoah

Former German international Gerald Asamoah says while there is more work to be done in the ongoing fight against racism in sports, the truth is that things are much better than they used to be when he was actively playing.

In an exclusive interview to mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Sunday, March 21, 2021, Asamoah opened up about the challenges of the black player and athletes in general.

“As long as you can do more, you should always do it,” he said. “Obviously it’s good to see that much as already been done, but you can always do more.”

“Have there been changes for the better? I used to get bananas thrown at me,” Asamoah said. “That doesn’t happen anymore nowadays, but there’s still hostility."

“Football is a sport that really brings people together. There are lots of different nationalities in the changing room and everyone only has one aim: to be successful together. Clubs and footballers have a position as role models. If someone in the public eye, like a professional footballer for example, says something against racism, then it has a wider reach.

"Sustainability is the most important thing. We need to act more than we react. A lot of the time the issue only appears in the media when something happens. We need to get into schools more and people with a platform need to send out a message that we’re all the same.”

The former Schalke O4 attacker made 43 appearances for the German national team and played over 300 games in the Bundesliga before hanging his boots. A FIFA World Cup runner-up in 2002, Gerald Asamoah also won the DFB Cup twice.