Coach of newly crowned champions of the Albanian League KF Tirana, Ndubuisi Egbo, has spoken of the racial abuse he received this season on his way to making history.
KF Tirana were last weekend confirmed as winners of the Kategoria Superiore, their 25th title.
Egbo’s achievement was even more remarkable given that he only took over partway through the season, with the team threatened with relegation.
Also Read: ‘Balogun Fit For Scottish Football, I Rate Him Highly’ –Brighton Midfielder, Bayal
But the former Super Eagles keeper revealed that there had been a lot of racial abuse directed towards him.
“There are people who don’t want me to win because of my colour,” the 47-year-old told BBC Sport.
“There is racism. One game they threw a banana at me. They spat at me.
“The officials of the Albanian FA did not do anything, because it was an away game and they had a white set of fans.
“The police and security were there – and nobody did anything. They were afraid of the fans there. I couldn’t do anything. I just had to accept it.”
Egbo explained that he sometimes hears things said about him in Albanian because people do not think he will understand.
“One time when getting on a bus in the city with a backpack, two men behind said in Albanian: “this one might be from Al Qaeda.”
“I said to them, ‘have you finished’?” he replied in his fluent Albanian.
“They wanted the ground to open up for them to disappear.”
The 2000 and 2002 AFCON star disclosed that he had been contacted by many African and black coaches since his historic feats last weekend.
“My fellow Africans said, ‘you don’t know what you’ve done for us by winning this championship’,” he said.
“It is just like when Obama won the Presidency in America. That’s exactly how it is seen here.”
But he added that, while he was happy to “break the jinx” around African coaches, there were massive changes that were needed with attitudes.
He said he had particularly noticed a difference in what happens to players’ careers in England once they retire, depending on whether they are black or white.
“If you look at the English Premier League, you rarely see any dark-skinned coaches there,” he pointed out.
“You have to go into the National League before you see that.
“I feel both joy and sadness. We are not given enough opportunities. We only want the same opportunities.
“It is just like what Black Lives Matter are doing, but it the football circles, to give opportunities to those who deserve them.”
KF Tirana will begin their European Champions League campaign in the first qualifying round and will have to win four ties if they are to play with the top clubs in the group stages.
Copyright © 2024 Completesports.com All rights reserved. The information contained in Completesports.com may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of Completesports.com.
COMMENTS