{"id":316645,"date":"2017-05-05T06:40:15","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T06:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=316645"},"modified":"2017-05-05T06:40:15","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T06:40:15","slug":"rahman-writes-gfas-deafening-silence-endorses-racial-abuse-against-muntari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/rahman-writes-gfas-deafening-silence-endorses-racial-abuse-against-muntari\/","title":{"rendered":"RAHMAN WRITES: GFA\u2019s deafening silence endorses racial abuse against Muntari"},"content":{"rendered":"
“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”. This deep statement is not from Martin Luther King Jnr or Nelson Mandela, but from former Black Stars midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari, to one of the children who joined in the racial abuse against him.<\/p>\n
Background<\/strong><\/p>\n On Sunday, Sulley Muntari, during a league match sort refuge in referee Daniele Minelli who was officiating his team Pescara\u2019s 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\u2019s face in response.<\/p>\n 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; \u201c”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”.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t seen or heard. For me, their silence is as worse as the abuse itself, literally endorsing it.<\/p>\n