Jadon Sancho says racism could drive players out of football

Tuesday 3 September 2019 12:01, UK

Jadon Sancho fears players could quit football if racism in the game does not stop.

Romelu Lukaku was subjected to monkey chants during Inter's match at Cagliari in the latest high-profile racist incident this term, with Chelsea pair Kurt Zouma and Tammy Abraham and Manchester United duo Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford encountering online abuse earlier in the season.

Sancho, who has been a revelation in Germany since joining Borussia Dortmund in 2017, is worried top players could be driven from the game if the racism continues.

"I personally think it just has to stop," the 19-year-old England winger said.

"No player wants to play football and having abuse like that. It puts the confidence down in the players and I feel the love of the sport will just go very soon if it doesn't stop.

"Everyone should be happy and just do what they're doing [with] no racist abuse.

"I don't think it's social media [that is the main problem].

"I think some fans are very passionate, they just say what they want to say but they just need to slow it down a bit. We're still only human. We're not what people think. We might be famous but we love the sport and just want to play football.

"It is hard when I see things like this because it feels like, 'why should we play football'?" I feel like Romelu Lukaku handled it [the situation at Cagliari] very well by not reacting and just carrying on playing."