Ghana captain, Andre Ayew, has credited his legendary father, Abedi Ayew Pele, for paving the way for African players to excel in Europe despite having to face discrimination along the way.
Black Lives Matter movement has shone fresh light on the racial injustices faced by black players following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by an American police officer who knelt on his neck his neck for over eight minutes.
Ayew has detailed the role played by his dad and players of his generation in helping eliminate barriers stopping black players from moving to Europe.
“If you look back to the years before my dad’s time, it was even worse than now. These players like my dad paved the way for everyone to come in and prove that black people can do the job in Europe”, he told Sky Sports.
“I remember playing in Russia in the Europa League versus (Zenit) St. Petersburg, getting bananas thrown everywhere.
“People have gone through worse, I’m talking about my personal experience, but I’ve seen friends going through things and I just feel like that’s not how it should be.
“We need to make sure that we stamp our foot on the floor and make sure that it changes. Nothing’s easy but we need to keep going and not give up on what we believe in. I think that can take the world to another level.”
Abedi Pele’s first shot in Europe came in 1983 when he moved to Sweden-based club, FC Zurich from Al Sadd, but he’s known for his displays with French side, Olympique Marseille.