Shola Ameobi has backed Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling who accused the British newspapers of fuelling racism in a publication involving the club’s two youngsters who purchased houses for their mothers.
Sterling who was said to have been racially abused by some set of Chelsea fans in Saturday’s defeat of Manchester City posted a lengthy message on his Instagram page addressing a publication which referred to Tosin Adarabioyo of Nigeria descent as a young player who bought £2.25m mansion for his mother, “despite having never started a Premier League match”.
Whereas, another “Manchester City youngster “Phil Foden was said to have splashed ” £2m on a new home for his mum”.
While Speaking on Sky Sports, former Super Eagles striker Ameobi hailed Sterling for publicly addressing the subject of racism in football, the need to promote inclusion in the game and fair publication in the media.
“It’s not something you like to see but the way Raheem has gone about it – the fact he’s dealing with the situation – it’s a wider thing we are talking about in terms of inclusion,” he said.
“We want everyone to feel like they are welcome, regardless of the colour of their skin, their ethnicity, or what they believe.
“It’s an important issue that we have to talk about and it’s a good thing that Raheem is using what’s happened, even though it’s a sad issue, to raise a bigger thing.”
Ameobi, however, said the British authorities must work harder than before to help eradicate racism from British football.
“We have done so much in this country, let’s not let things like this detract from how much has gone on in football and sport in this country,” he added.
“It can affect you personally and I know it affected a couple of my teammates at the time.
“These guys are under so much pressure already, we don’t want them to feel like they can’t come into a stadium, game or anywhere and feel like they can’t be themselves.
“It’s really important that when things like this happen it shows we still have a long way to go.” He concluded.
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