Former Wimbledon star, John Fashanu, has said racists stopped his family from watching him play all through his career.
Fashanu played for several years in the Premier League with the Dons, Millwall, Aston Villa, Norwich City and Crystal Palace.
He stated this while reacting to the recent racial abuse aimed at Super Eagles defender, Semi Ajayi, by West Bromwich Albion fans following the club’s 2-1 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday.
“I can never be in support of racial abuse because it is ridiculous. It is very sad that at this time in our lives, with so many things happening, people are still being abused,” Fashanu told The PUNCH.
“This is very unfortunate and not good for football. There will be a time when the black players will walk off the pitch. The biggest and the most entertaining players in the world whether anybody likes it or not are black players.
“So many people are shying away from football because they are being abused. Being abused is not part of the job. We can forgive the people who did this 20 years ago when I was playing football. My late brother Justin, the first black £1m footballer, instead of people cheering him when he went onto the pitch he was booed and called all sorts of names.”
