John Obi Mikel has responded to the recent racial abuse he suffered at the hands of Fenerbahce fans after his Turkish team Trabzonspor defeated them 2-1 in the Turkish Super Lig.
Mirror reported that the former Nigerian national got thousands of racist messages sent to his social media accounts, and his partner and twin daughters were not spared in the rants.
Mikel’s team Trabzonspor has filed a criminal complaint and now, the soccer star has addressed the abuse in a press briefing that saw him become emotional while speaking on the unfortunate development.
After the game on Saturday, I started getting messages on my Instagram, even my girlfriend getting instant messages of racism and hatred, they were very scary messages towards me and my family and kids. There’s no place for this.
I don’t think this should be happening and I think these people should be held responsible. They shouldn’t be allowed to come to games.I’m very disappointed with this – especially my girlfriend, my family, my kids. They are only four years old, why do you talk about my kids? I am very sad about this, it’s a very disturbing time for me.
I have received messages indicating that I am not alone. I received messages from Galatasaray fans. I received messages from many people. I received messages stating that they were against the situation I had, and messages from people who knew me from the world.John Obi Mikel
It’s so sad and heartbreaking that the issue of racism continues to prevail in a society that is as developed as ours. One would expect that the sporting community which features many people from different places coming together would unite humanity.
Mikel is not alone as OduNews stands with him in these trying times. He and his family surely do not deserve the racial insults that they have all suffered at the hands of narrow-minded individuals.
