Manchester United loanee and Nigerian forward Odion Ighalo has urged the world to fight for humanity instead of fighting colours. He stated this while reacting to the gruesome murder of an African-American George Floyd by a white police officer. The police rested his knee on his neck with the aid of his colleagues, until he died.
Since the death of the 46-year-old black American, the level of agitation against racism has skyrocketed across the world. There have been numerous groups across the world protesting against racial abuse and police brutality on the streets and on social media.
Odion Ighalo stressed that as much as he doesn’t condole racism, he doesn’t condole riots. He also stressed that racism didn’t start today, hence he wouldn’t end today but people have to keep fighting for it to be cut off at least for the sake of the next generation.
“I don’t condone racism, but at the same time, I don’t condone riots”, he told Sky Sports. “It didn’t start today, it’s not going to end today. It’s going to take time. We are hoping this situation can change the narrative and make it more limited. It’s going to reduce it to a minimum.
“We are fighting now so that for the next generation it will be cut off, finally. We have to start from the younger generation, educate them, let them see that all humans are the same. We should fight for humanity, not colours.”
Ighalo Will walk out of a match if racially abused
Odion Ighalo who is on loan at Manchester United from Chinese Super League club, Shanghai Shenhua, said he had suffered racial abuse while playing in China. He narrated how he was called some unprintable names while playing a match, he walked up to the referee to call his attention to what was going on, the referee didn’t take any action. He refused to shake the hands of the referee after the match and reported the matter to the Chinese FA but they didn’t do anything about it; hence, he had to let it go.
But he said if it ever happened to him during a match again, he would report to the referee and if the referee didn’t take any action, he would walk out of the pitch.
“If it happens to me I would report it to the referee and see what they do, but if they don’t take action about it then I’m going to walk off because it should not be done to any player or anyone in the world,” he said.
“In one game in China I got called all sorts of names and after the game, I didn’t shake his hand. I walked straight into the dressing room, I was angry, I reported it to the FA.
“I didn’t press forward with it, I just let it go because I’m just this kind of guy. I don’t like to drag issues out. But I don’t think it should be condoned in any country.”
Ighalo just renewed his loan deal with Manchester United. He is expected to remain in the Premier League until January 31st, 2021. Since he joined United in January, he has featured in 8 matches, scoring 4 goals and making 3 assists.
