A furious Yaya Touré is demanding action from Uefa after he was racially abused during Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over CSKA Moscow yesterday evening.
Touré reported the monkey chants to referee Ovidiu Hategan who, according to Uefa regulations, should have stopped the match and asked for an announcement over the public address system to stop the abuse.
The chants fall in two action weeks that Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) had set up to increase awareness and challenge exclusion.
City lodged a complaint with the Uefa delegate present at the match and intend to follow this up in writing.
Touré said: “I’m very, very disappointed about what those fans have done today and I think Uefa have to take action because players with the same colour of skin will always be in the same position.
“We have to be as strong as possible, otherwise they will continue like that. Maybe they could ban the stadium, I don’t know, for a couple of years or a couple of months.
“The club [CSKA] may say they have to educate the fans but I think it’s enough; too much is too much. We have to stop it now. It’s stupid these people. I don’t know, it just happens in football. It’s unbelievable. Uefa have to take action to right it, otherwise they will just continue.”
Referee Hategan mentioned Touré’s compliant in his report to Uefa but the midfielder does not think the action taken by the referee was enough.
“For me, as captain, I was wearing an armband which said ‘No to racism’ and I was totally disappointed,” said Touré.
Two goals from Argentinian striker Sergio Agüero gave City the win after CSKA had gone ahead and manager Manuel Pellegrini knows the victory was important for City’s hopes of progression in the Champions League.
“I am very happy with the performance. Playing football on this pitch was very difficult. We showed character, concentration and intensity,” Pellegrini said.
Vincent Kompany, who was injured and unable to play, tweeted: “Racist chants again in Moscow today. We’ve all said enough.”
Image courtesy of MCFC video via YouTube, with thanks.
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