Klopp Condemns
By Joshua Walters
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has called for lifetime bans for fans found guilty in any form of racist acts against footballers.
The German trainer says it is 'disgusting' for some football fans to subject players to any form of racism, and says the canker should not be viewed and/or addressed with fanatism and club affiliations.
Racism against players has gained grounds in recent times, starting with Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose who were subjected to monkey chants whiles on international duty against Montenegro in April this year.
The incident which received worldwide condemnation was followed by another spectacle in the Serie A where Juventus' Moise Kean was at the receiving end of monkey chants from the home fans as his side beat Cagliari 2-0.
Another racist act popped up again on Thursday as some Chelsea fans carried a banner that portrayed Liverpool's Mohamed Salah as a terrorist before the Blues' Europa League quarter-final first leg game at Slavia Prague on Thursday.
“I think it’s disgusting, " Klopp said on Friday. "We should not see it as a Chelsea thing or a Liverpool thing, it is another sign that something is going wrong."
“It is still only a few people, but the stronger the reaction from all of us the more it will help to avoid things like this in the future."
“These guys, not always, are football fans so if you do something like that you should not be allowed to enter a stadium again in your life."
“All parts of racism are that some people think they are more worthy or valuable than others and that’s the biggest misunderstanding in the world out there."
“Football is the best example of how different people, different races can work together brilliantly."
“If you go in each dressing room in the world of football, you find them all sitting next to each other, no-one cares who is coming from where and where your parents came from. It is never an issue."
“Because football is very public and we talk a lot about this so I think we pretty much have a strong voice and we have to use that strong voice and say altogether things like this are not allowed to happen again.”
