RACIST abuse of black footballers is the fault of pervasive media racism, Raheem Sterling warned today as he called out disgusting insults aimed at himself.

Chelsea’s victory over Manchester City on yesterday was overshadowed by footage emerging of a middle-aged white man calling Sterling a “f****** black c***.”

The club reacted quickly to open up an investigation into the abuse directed at the City player.

But it was Sterling’s response on social media that laid bare his feelings on the racism that still exists in football.

 

 

 

 

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Good morning I just want to say , I am not normally the person to talk a lot but when I think I need my point to heard I will speak up. Regarding what was said at the Chelsea game as you can see by my reaction I just had to laugh because I don’t expect no better. For example you have two young players starting out there careers both play for the same team, both have done the right thing. Which is buy a new house for there mothers who have put in a lot of time and love into helping them get where they are, but look how the news papers get there message across for the young black player and then for the young white payer. I think this in unacceptable both innocent have not done a thing wrong but just by the way it has been worded. This young black kid is looked at in a bad light. Which helps fuel racism an aggressive behaviour, so for all the news papers that don’t understand why people are racist in this day and age all i have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity an give all players an equal chance.

A post shared by Raheem Sterling x (@sterling7) on Dec 9, 2018 at 1:54am PST

During last week’s north London derby, a banana was thrown at Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang by a Spurs fan.

The supporter has since been given a life ban from football but just six days later, racism reared its ugly head again and while Sterling said he couldn’t help but “laugh because I don’t expect no better,” he referenced two stories written in the Daily Mail as the perfect example of fuelling racism.

On the day that thousands of people took to the streets to counter Tommy Robinson’s fascist demo, Sterling said: “I just want to say, I am not normally the person to talk a lot but when I think I need my point heard I will speak up.

“Regarding what was said at the Chelsea game, as you can see by my reaction I just had to laugh because I don’t expect no better.

“For example, you have two young players starting out their careers — both play for the same team, both have done the right thing, which is buy a new house for their mothers who have put in a lot of time and love into helping them get where they are.”

The two players in question are City’s Phil Foden and Tosin Adarabioyo, Foden being white and Adarabioyo black.

Adarabioyo’s story references the fact that he’s on “25,000 a week” and that he “splashes out on mansion on market for £2.25 million despite never [having] started a Premier League match.”

When writing about Foden, the Mail’s headline reads: “Manchester City starlet Phil Foden buys new £2m home for his mum.”

Sterling said: “Look at how the newspapers get their message across for the young black player and then for the young white player.

“I think this is unacceptable, both innocent, have not done a thing wrong but just by the way it has been worded.

“The young black kid is looked at in a bad light which helps fuel racism an(d) aggressive behaviour.

“So for all the newspapers that don’t understand why people are racist in this day and age all I have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity an(d) give all players an equal chance.”

Sterling himself faced such headlines when he bought his mother a house following Euro 2016.

The Mail’s headline read: “That’s a lot of Sterling! £180,000-a-week England flop Raheem shows off blinging house he bought for his mum — complete with jewel-encrusted bathroom — hours after flying home in disgrace from Euro 2016.”

The England star has since detailed the lengths to which his mother went to to put a roof over his head as a child and how much his mum and sister put their lives on hold just to make sure Sterling could get to football training and matches when he was younger.

Sterling has been forced to endure both front and back page headlines with no relation to his playing career, from buying food in Gregg’s to having a gun tattoo on his leg in honour of his dad who was shot dead in Jamaica when he was a young child.

Kick It Out chair Herman Ouseley demanded football’s leaders interject immediately to address not only yesterday’s racist incident but Sterling comments this morning.

“What happened at Chelsea shows what is still going on in football.

“Where is (Premier League executive chairman) Richard Scudamore, where is (Football Association chairman) Greg Clarke, where is Chelsea’s chairman (Bruce Buck) — they should have been talking out last night and it has to be dealt with at the top.

“We do not have any leadership at the top of the game to speak out, they rely on Kick It Out.

“We have already made comments about the way Raheem Sterling has been treated differently by the media. The print media often targets not just black players, but all footballers.

“Raheem Sterling has received bad press over the last few years because of his lifestyle, and clearly, there are issues from potential stories adding to prejudice and I have every sympathy for him.

“Players know if they are abused in any way they have to tell the referee. It was awful.

“All players know the referee is in charge and has a duty of care, and the referee can remove those people. It didn’t appear to me he told the referee in the first place.”