Racism in sports: Scottish basketball team Glasgow Rocks reveal abuse prompted trio to move home
David Mpondo, Julius van Sauers and Marc Kwedi joined BBL side Glasgow Rocks at the start of the season; the trio were threatened, racially abused, and have since moved to another property; "Racism is not something that is a distant problem"
Friday 5 February 2021 16:37, UK
British Basketball League side Glasgow Rocks have detailed the racist abuse which resulted in three of their players moving to another property.
David Mpondo, Julius van Sauers and Marc Kwedi all joined Glasgow Rocks, Scotland's only pro-basketball team, at the start of the BBL season.
In a statement on Thursday, Glasgow Rocks said the trio had been threatened, referred to as "monkeys", while calls were made to the police claiming they had prostitutes at their property.
Their car was also attacked, with the windscreen smashed and tyres slashed, with Glasgow Rocks stating there is "little that can be done in terms of prosecution" due to a lack of hard evidence.
Glasgow Rocks confirmed the players have moved to another property, where they have not encountered further issues.
In a tweet, the British Basketball League said: "We were appalled to learn of the abhorrent racist abuse levelled at these players. As a league, we fully support and stand with all in our community in the fight against racism."
A host of BBL clubs posted their support too, with London Lions posting: "Unacceptable. We stand with the @rocksglasgow in the fight against racism."
Full statement: 'Racism is not something that is a distant problem'
"Glasgow and Scotland are wonderful places to live and grow. It is, however a place that is not immune from racism.
"We are deeply saddened to report that the organisation and our players have encountered this first hand this year, when David Mpondo, Julius Van Sauers and Marc Kwedi being the victim of racist abuse within weeks of joining the club at the start of the season.
"They were threatened, referred to as "Monkeys", made to feel watched and unwelcome and were harassed [sic] by calls to the police [sic] claiming that they had prostitutes in their property. The incidents eventually spiralled into their car being attacked and their tyres being slashed along with the windscreen being smashed by a hammer.
"As it is was a police incident the club have held off speaking about this. Unfortunately, we do not have any hard evidence of who attacked the car therefore there is little that can be done in terms of prosecution. However, we feel like the least we can do is draw attention to the incidents that have occurred.
"Racism is not something that is a distant problem. It is in Glasgow, it is in Scotland and it is and can be everywhere.
"We are happy to report that the players have since been moved to another property where they have encountered no further disturbances.
"It goes without saying how deeply saddened we are that this was their first experience of Glasgow."
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