In a period that racism seems to have been on the ascendancy in European football, former Ghana international John Paintsil has revealed he never experienced racial abuse during his playing career.
Paintsil claims when it comes to issues of racism, he considers himself as the luckiest footballer in the world.
Following Sulley Muntari’s decision to walk off the field to demonstrate the fight against racism while playing for Pescara in the Serie A, Ghana legend Tony Yeboah revealed his sad ordeal with current Bayern Munich manager Jupp Hyenckes during his days at Frankfurt.
But Paintsil was lucky.
“Oh never! I never suffered racial abuse in my career. For me I always say I am the luckiest player on earth. Throughout my entire playing career in Europe, I was never abused racially,” he told GHANAsoccernet.com
“I keep getting this question and I keep saying I have been lucky. Every club I played, I was loved by everyone there – the fans, teams mates, coaches etc.
“Many people have said Israelites are racists sometimes but I never experienced any racial discrimination when I played in Israel,” he revealed.
Paintsil added that he was the fans favourite at almost all the clubs he played for.
“Even when I played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, fans of all the other clubs liked me and when Ghana were going to the first World Cup in 2006, they are supported me.
I was the fans’ favourite at Fulham and West Ham and even at Leicester where I didn’t spend a lot of time, I never saw anything like that,” he added.
Ghana and Chicago Fire winger David Accam who suffered a devastating racial abuse in Sweden during his days at Helsingborg has called on FIFA and other confederations to employ stiffer punishments in the fight against racism.
Source: Ghanasoccernet.com
‘I never suffered racial abuse in my playing career’ – John Paintsil
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