Emmanuel Adebayor recently reflected on one of the most infamous moments of his career: his sprint across the Etihad Stadium after scoring for Manchester City against his former club, Arsenal. Speaking ten years on, the Istanbul Başakşehir striker shared his frustration with how he was treated following the celebration.
“After my celebration, the FA fined me; they punished me. Nothing happened to the Arsenal fans. So it started with me, and long before me,” Adebayor told the Daily Mail. He recalled the abuse he faced from the stands: “I remember arriving at the stadium, and the Arsenal fans were there. All I heard was the chant: ‘Your mother is a whore and your father washes elephants.’ My father worked in retail, and my mother is a businesswoman. But it just went on and on. So how could I respond? I didn’t have a voice to face thousands of fans. And now the same FA is trying to stop racism? I’m sorry, it doesn’t work that way.”
The Togolese captain also proposed a more decisive approach to tackling racism in football today. “Today is too late. We are tired. Enough is enough. I see Mario Balotelli and Didier Drogba on Instagram. How many times do we have to post something? We have to react. We have to leave the field,” he said, calling for stronger, immediate action rather than repeated online statements. Adebayor’s comments underline the ongoing frustration players feel over racism in football and the perceived ineffectiveness of current measures.
