“It’s never going to change.”
In the aftermath of the alleged racist abuse received by Glen Kamara during Rangers’ Europa League tie against Slavia Prague on Thursday, Connor Goldson has given an emotional interview to Sky in which he said he “despises” the Slavia players, and praised the way Rangers have dealt with the incident.
Kamara released a statement via his lawyers detailing the sequence of events that occurred at Ibrox. The statement read: “If UEFA really want to ‘show racism the red card’, it’s time to stop the tokenism and take a zero tolerance approach.”
“As a player I do not expect myself, nor any other to have to tolerate racial hatred on the pitch in 2021. The vile racist abuse by Ondrej Kedel took place on the international stage and any failure to act by UEFA will be viewed as a green light for racism.”
Kamara alleged that the Slavia centre-back leant into his ear, covering his mouth and said: “You are a f***ing monkey, you know you are.”
Slavia issued a statement on their website denying allegations of abuse.
Enough is enough. pic.twitter.com/uyJLLhIUul
— Glen Kamara (@GlenKamara4) March 19, 2021
Rangers defender Connor Goldson spoke to the referee about the incident during the game, but speaking to Sky, it is clear he does not hold much hope for things to improve in this regard any time soon.
“I treat Glen Kamara like he’s my little brother,” Goldson said. “He’s one of the calmest individuals I’ve ever met. To see him get that irate and upset on a football pitch was disgusting to see. I back him 100 per cent.
“I’m really proud of the way the club handled it, but I don’t think I’ve ever had hatred on a football pitch like I did yesterday,” Goldson told Sky.
“I’ve never really been angry on a football pitch to that extent. But I genuinely despise them.”
🗣️ Exclusive with Connor Goldson
▪️ Reveals hurt at alleged racist abuse to Glen Kamara
▪️ Outlines what happened in the tunnel
▪️ Says he "despises" Slavia Prague players
▪️ Praises clubs' response to the incident
⚠️ This interview contains details of racial abuse pic.twitter.com/hPYchsfgZ8
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 19, 2021
“Me and the whole team waited for them in the tunnel for a whole 45 minutes and they didn’t come in. I’m proud of every single team-mate, every member of staff in this football club – from the chairman coming down to support us, to Ross Wilson the director of football, to the manager standing by us.
“I respect them 100 per cent because they didn’t try and usher us away because the club might get in trouble. This is beyond football. There’s so much speech about how to eradicate it, how it’s getting better, but it’s not getting better at all – it’s getting worse.
“You come into the changing room after the game and you see boys with monkey or banana emojis all over their social media, getting called words that a white person could never imagine being called. It’s horrible.”
The racist abuse aimed at Rangers players continued after the game onto social media, with more players targeted, including Kemar Roofe, who was sent off during the game.
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