Henry was fired by the Hammers for comments he made claiming that players from the continent caused trouble in the dressing room.

The 28-year old, who left West Ham on deadline day to rejoin Swansea in an £18 million deal, has now hit out at the Hammers officials insisting Africans bring success to their sides.

Ayew says African players are very proud of themselves and where they come from.

“I just know that we African players are proud of ourselves, we know where we have come from, and we believe in our football,” said Ayew.

“African players like Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o have played at the greatest clubs in the world and done their jobs.

“We have done a lot to get into professional football and African footballers now play for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea.

“It’s an honour to be an African. I am so proud and so happy and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Ayew is in line to make his Swansea debut this weekend against Burnley in the Premier League.

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By: Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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They have also detained the Nigerian, whom some residents accused of theft.

The video shows four or five men using sticks to beat a man of African appearance who has been tied to a post.

There was a spate of attacks on African nationals living in India last year, including one in which a Congolese man was beaten to death in Delhi.

Police said the latest incident happened on 24 September, and the Nigerian victim was also arrested due to a theft allegation.

A resident of the Savitri Nagar neighbourhood claimed the man broke into his house and tried to steal valuables from his room, police said.

“It is a case of attempted burglary. Those living in the house got alerted. They caught him and beat him up,” Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson of the Delhi Police told the Press Trust of India news agency.

In March, five Nigerian students were attacked by crowds, while another was beaten by a mob inside a shopping mall living in Noida, near Delhi.

Six months ago, African ambassadors in India criticised the government for not doing enough to stop a string of alleged racist attacks on Africans in Delhi.

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Source: BBC

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Muntari complained to the referee, Daniele Minelli, about racial abuse during Pescara’s 1-0 defeat at Cagliari last weekend, walked off the pitch in protest after being shown a yellow card and was subsequently sent off.

Serie A’s disciplinary committee upheld the referee’s decision on Tuesday, handing the Ghanaian an automatic one-match ban. Cagliari avoided sanctions as “only 10 supporters and therefore less than 1%” of fans were directly involved, according to the committee’s report.

World footballers’ union Fifpro had called for the punishment to be rescinded while the former Tottenham striker and Kick it Out trustee Garth Crooks had called for black players in Italy to go on strike if Muntari was forced to serve the ban – with Muntari’s compatriot, Genoa’s midfielder Godfred Donsah, saying on Thursday that he was prepared to do so.

Speaking to Italian television after the match, Muntari said he had been abused by a group of fans in the first half but had tried to defuse the situation by giving one of the group, a child, his shirt “to teach him you’re not supposed to do things like that”.

The former Portsmouth, Internazionale and Milan star, who played 84 games for Ghana between 2002 and 2014, said the abuse continued in the second half so he tried to speak to Minelli. “I told him he should have had the courage to stop the game” Muntari said.

“The referee’s not just there to stand on the pitch and blow his whistle. He has to manage everything. He should also listen out for that kind of thing and set an example.”

Following the Italian FA’s decision, Muntari is now available for Pescara’s home match against Crotone on Sunday.

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Source: Guardian

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According to the FA, it was regrettable that the referee in the game booked Sulley Muntari for complaining about the abuse, while the Italian FA subsequently slapped him with a ban for the incident.

[contextly_sidebar id=”YOPbXb2XIV4btfuw7pKxbfqTa7azspA1″]Spokesperson for the GFA, Saani Diara, in an interview with Citi News said the FA is actively looking into the matter.

“We condemn the racist attack directed at Sulley Muntari. We would like to also condemn the action of showing him a yellow card and subsequently the Italian FA’s Disciplinary Committee’s decision to uphold the sanction against Sulley Muntari. We think that this action by the Italian Football Federation Disciplinary Committee and the referee, is counterproductive and will further arm the racists with confidence to go on the pitch and verbally abuse any player,” he said.

According to him, the GFA is in touch with Sulley Muntari on the matter and is looking to take a firm stance.

“The GFA has never been aloof on this issue of racism that Sulley Muntari was subjected to. Since the incident occurred, the President of the FA, Kwesi Nyantakyi, has spoken with Sulley Muntari about the incident. Sulley is obviously distraught about what happened; but most importantly he wants changes in the way we deal with racism in football.”

According to the disciplinary committee that investigated the matter, official match reports stated that, only 10 football fans out of the 2,000 spectators chanted the racist slurs, and that was not enough to warrant a walk-off by Muntari.

The Italian FA also said the sanction on Muntari for his protest was within its laws.

But according to Saani Diara, such laws were regressive, and did not support the global call for action against racism in football.

Gov’t condemns racist attack on Sulley Muntari

Government has also criticized the Italian Football Association for failing to punish the football fans who racially abused Sulley Muntari.

Mahama backs Muntari’s protest after racial abuse

Ghana’s Former President John Dramani Mahama, has also backed Sulley Muntari’s walk-off after he was racially abused by fans during Pescara’s Serie A match with Cagliari on Sunday. Mr. Mahama in a tweet said he stood with Muntari.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has also condemned the Italian FA for the sanction against Muntari over the matter.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The former Black Stars player walked off the pitch in the dying minutes of the game in protest against the racial abuse he suffered from some fans.

[contextly_sidebar id=”rZGQuirdEidw9DXgRWbVMCKmBydnrH7J”]His complaint to the referee about the abuse only got him a booking in the game between his Pescara side and Cagliari.

The incident has attracted global attention, with bodies such as the UN, FIFPRO and some important football personalities supporting Muntari for the action.

Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Pius Hadzidze in an interview with Citi News condemned the attack on the footballer.

“Racism of any kind is an action that must be condemned by all. We as the Ministry of Youth and Sports unequivocally condemn the racist attack that was targeted at Sulley Muntari. We condemn it in no uncertain terms and we are calling on football governing bodies across the world and particularly the football governing body of Italy to investigate the circumstances under which he [Muntari] rather became the one who was punished and the fans of the team that were shouting the racists slurs and insults at Muntari rather have been left off the hook.”

The Italian FA in a rather shocking decision sanctioned Muntari by barring him from featuring in a game for the walk-off.

According to a disciplinary committee that investigated the matter, official match reports stated that, only 10 football fans out of the 2,000 spectators chanted the racist slurs.

But the Deputy Minister said, “they must take firm unbiased and fair steps to ensure that such actions do not repeat themselves. We stand in solidarity with all the people who have condemned this clear act of racism against Sulley Muntari.”

Mahama backs Muntari’s protest after racial abuse

Ghana’s Former President John Dramani Mahama, has also backed Sulley Muntari’s walk-off after he was racially abused by fans during Pescara’s Serie A match with Cagliari on Sunday.

Mr. Mahama in a tweet said he stood with Muntari.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Pescara midfielder Muntari, 32, was given a one-game ban after he protested against racist abuse he received from the crowd at Cagliari on Sunday.

The Serie A disciplinary committee said not enough fans took part in the abuse to trigger action against Cagliari.

Donsah, 20, said racism is “killing the beauty of the game”.

Former Ghana international Muntari was booked for dissent after asking the referee to stop Sunday’s match in the wake of the abuse.

He then walked off the pitch in protest – for which officials confirmed he received a second yellow card.

Donsah, who played for Cagliari for two seasons, told BBC World Service Sport Muntari did the “right thing” by walking off and said he will wear an anti-racism message under his shirt.

“I think the authorities need to lift the ban on Sulley Muntari in order to boost the fight against racism in football,” he added.

Garth Crooks, the ex-Tottenham striker and independent trustee of anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out, has called on players in the Italian league to strike this weekend unless Muntari’s one-match suspension is withdrawn.

“I would do that 100% because racism is something that is killing the game,” added Donsah.

“Some players cutting off from some matches in order to highlight the racial abuse that is going on in football is a great move.”

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Source: BBC

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Background

On Sunday, Sulley Muntari, during a league match sort refuge in referee Daniele Minelli who was officiating his team Pescara’s game against Cagliari. Muntari complained to official about racist chants against him throughout the game but the referee surprisingly flashed his yellow card in Muntari’s face in response.

But that did not deter him, he walked off the pitch but did something profound in that protest. That was when he spoke to one of the young boys pouring racist chants on him; “”I gave him my shirt, to teach him that you’re not supposed to do that. I needed to set an example so he grows up to be nice”.

The midfielder was subsequently banned by the FIGC despite having enough time to take a considered and nuanced view of the situation. To make a terrible situation even worse, Cagliari got away without any punishment, because “an approximate number of only 10” fans were involved, which apparently isn’t enough to warrant sanctioning against the club.

This incident has attracted global condemnation including Ghanaian footballers, fans, Fifpro, the UN among others. Strangely, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) are pretending they haven’t seen or heard. For me, their silence is as worse as the abuse itself, literally endorsing it.

The GFA’S shame

Forget CAF, why is the GFA silent on an issue of such magnitude involving one of its own? Sulley Muntari was one of the best performers of the senior national team the Black Stars, the flagship product of GFA in the last decade. He scored very important goals for the country, fought on the pitch for team and was a huge part of the glory in the 2006 and 2010 world cups. Forget the fact that he probably triggered the team’s disastrous outing in the 2014 edition which eventually turned the country against an FA Ghanaians are highly suspicious of.

But for a man who for all intents and purposes, did his bit for the nation, he does not deserve to be left in the cold especially when the racists jubilating over their barbaric act and whole world is talking about him. What does this say about how we treat national heroes? I respect the GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi but I am highly disappointed that he has been so silent on this issue that has dominated every football website in the world. What kind of a leader is that? Even if he has something against Muntari, this is when he should have shown great leadership, but he has failed that test woefully.

CAF’s Blame:

Racism in football has mostly been against black players and CAF, the mother body of football in Africa, is still snoring, stuck deep in perpetual sleep especially when it comes to these matters. Even FIFA is supporting Muntari even though its own rules do not permit a player to walk off the pitch in regular time. How does CAF expect the people in Italy to support Africans when it has turned it’s back on him? CAF only pretends to care about racism in football when it’s time to hold the almost cosmetic FIFA ‘Kick Racism out Of Football’ flag during international tournament. I rest my case.

Ghana government

I was really proud to see former President John Mahama tweet in support of Muntari. Ghana as a nation always prides itself as the Black Star of African.
It’s no coincidence that the player taking a strong stand against racism is a Ghanaians, Sulley Muntari. Ironically the government of Ghana is yet to release a public statement to throw it’s weight behind it own son. Let’s pretend the press release is in the mythical political ‘pipeline.’ Muntari needs our support now more than ever.

If we are silent we are all endorsing racism, period!

A continent that is so timid to stand for what is right and a continent that forsakes its children in the midst of adversity. But we will all have to remember the famous words of Martin Luther King.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

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By: Rahman Osman/citifmonline.com/GHana

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The incident caused huge controversy in Serie A and beyond, as the midfielder was booked by the referee for dissent.

The Ghana international then became angry and walked off the field, as the official refused to stop the game.

Not only has the Muntari yellow card not been rescinded, and therefore he is given a one-match ban, but also Cagliari have avoided any punishment for the racist chants.

This is because the officials at the ground wrote in their report that the racist chants were coming from only around 10 people, thus less than one per cent of the circa 2,000 in the stadium.

They also noted it was only audible because the rest of the supporters were staging a ‘silent protest’ and therefore the decision was made not to penalise Cagliari, not even with a warning or a fine.

However, racist chants were clearly heard from Inter fans aimed towards Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly “from 80 per cent of the 7,000 people” in the ‘secondo anello verde’ section of the stands.

That section of San Siro is, therefore, closed, albeit only as a suspended sentence for a period of a year.

The same punishment was aimed at Lazio and the Curva Nord, where again 80 per cent of the 7,000 people in that area were judged to be taking part in the racist chant towards Roma defender Antonio Rudiger.

Lazio’s Curva Nord was given a suspended sentence for one year, pending closure of that section.

Inter were also fined €10,000 for chants of ‘territorial discrimination’ against Napoli supporters and Genoa fined €15,000 for throwing fireworks.

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Source: Football Italia

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The Ghanaian midfielder was subjected to racist abuse from the stands, but when he complained to the referee he was shown a yellow card.

That prompted the former Milan player to walk off the pitch, and he has received backing from the UN High Commissioner for Human rights.

“In my missions in different parts of the world, I see human rights defenders as a source of inspiration for all of us here,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a speech.

“With that in mind, I want to highlight the case of Sulley Muntari of Pescara, who left the pitch in protest when the referee booked him for complaining about being the victim of racist insults.”

“More has to be done when there are cases of racism on national and international pitches.”

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Source: Football Italia

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Some demonstrators hurled stones while other burned tyres and blocked roads.

They say they are angry that billions of dollars are being spent on next month’s football tournament, rather than social projects and housing.

Protests also took place in many other cities, including the capital Brasilia.

Teachers and civil servants, among others, were also on strike across Brazil.

In Rio, aerial images showed hundreds of people marching in rush-hour traffic on a main thoroughfare. The city will host the final match of the World Cup on 13 July.

Protesters there and in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, clashed with police before beginning to disperse.

‘More frequent’

The number of people on the streets was much lower than during similar protests last year.

Some of those taking part, however, promised the demonstrations would get bigger and more frequent as the World Cup gets closer.

Last June, more than a million people took to the street over poor public services, corruption and the high cost of hosting the World Cup.

The tournament is due to kick off on 12 June.

The BBC’s Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo says that the scale of the protests will be watched closely by the government as an indication of the security challenges they may face during the tournament.

He adds that, with both the World Cup and a presidential election this year, many groups have spotted an opportunity to exert maximum pressure on the government.

The demonstrations began earlier in the day in Sao Paulo, with one of the biggest protests in the city’s Itaquera district near the Arena Corinthians stadium, which will host the tournament’s opening match.

Protesters there demanded housing, and not stadiums, be built in accordance with Fifa standards, in reference to world football’s governing body.

‘No panic’

“Our goal is symbolic,” said Guilherme Boulos, the head of Homeless Workers Movement.

“We don’t want to destroy or damage the stadium. What we want is more rights for workers to have access to housing and to show the effects the Cup has brought to the poor.”

The government has tried to downplay the scale of Thursday’s unrest, arguing it was not related to the World Cup.

“From what I’ve seen, these are specific claims by workers. I’ve seen nothing that is related to the (World) Cup,” Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said.

“There’s no reason to panic ahead of receiving three million Brazilian tourists and 600,000 foreign tourists (for the tournament).”

The planned protests coincide with a range of strikes, including one by the police force in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco.

The army was deployed there to provide additional support after some robberies and looting, before the strike ended on its third day.

Local media reported that, in the last 24 hours alone, 234 people were arrested. Recife, the state capital, is due to host five matches during the World Cup.

Source: BBC

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