Emmanuel Adebayor accuses Tottenham fans of racism

Pa
Thursday 07 April 2011 10:29 BST
Comments
(GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Tottenham are unlikely to face any action over offensive chants at Emmanuel Adebayor which prompted allegations of racism from the Real Madrid striker.

UEFA confirmed this morning there was "nothing in the delegate's report" that would trigger an investigation into the abuse suffered by the former Arsenal star in Tuesday night's Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu.

Unless European football's governing body receive official notification of an offence from stadium security or the police, Spurs will not be charged.

The club accept the abuse directed at on-loan Manchester City forward Adebayor - who scored twice in Real's 4-0 crushing win on Tuesday - was offensive.

But they are adamant the chant which contains the words, "Your dad washes elephants, your mother's a whore", is not racist in nature.

A spokesman said: "The chant referred to has been previously discussed with the Crown Prosecution Service, who do not consider it racist.

"We shall continue to remind our fans that we do not tolerate any form of obscene or abusive chanting."

A club whose supporters are deemed guilty of racist chanting can be fined a minimum of £20,000.

Adebayor was singled out by the travelling fans following his three-and-a-half-year spell with Arsenal.

The 27-year-old said the fight against racism was ongoing but conceded "we can't do anything to stop it".

He said: "Big players better than me have tried to stop that, but it's not easy at all.

"Racist? We have done everything we can to show the red card to racism. But people are still into it, that's part of life.

"Coming from Africa, I'm just very happy, playing football is like a dream that comes true.

"And I just want to send a big support to all Africa, with what is happening in Libya and what is happening in the Ivory Coast. I've got a lot of family, a lot of friends.

"Racists are always there and we can't do anything to stop it. Samuel Eto'o and big players have spoken about it better than I do, but it's not stopped them."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in