Fiorentina midfielder Alfred Duncan has stated that games should be called off if incidents of racism happen, insisting that this could be a viable way to address the issue of discrimination in the game.
Duncan spoke to the official Fiorentina website in a recent interview and touched on a variety of topics.
The midfielder shared strong opinions about the fight against racism, how it takes shape in the minds of younger people and how it can be reduced in the world and in football in general.
The Ghana midfielder stated:
“Racism is ingrained around the world when we analyse all these incidents. Some fans don’t do it out of malice, but to annoy opposing players.
“And some players do it towards other players too. They do it because in the end they have nothing different: we are on the pitch, as opponents, we both play in Serie A, we play in strong teams, so we have nothing different. And in that moment the only thing he can say to me to annoy me is that.”
Duncan admits that there are ways to limit issues around racism but those ways and rules are not being implemented correctly.
He said:
“There are many measures to reduce racism, but they are not being implemented. It means that the authorities have no desire to lessen racism. And we will always go on like this. When one wants to avoid something he does everything to avoid it but if he doesn’t, he is conscious, it means that he doesn’t want to do it.
“I will give an example, and I don’t have anything against the authorities. However, if a supporter whistles at a black player on the pitch, and the club is fined a large amount, the club goes to the fans and tells them to stop. It is not the fans who pay the fines, but the clubs. Or if the games were disqualified, for example 5 games, solutions would be found. If the whole league was like this, racism, in my opinion, would decrease. I think so, in the first place. But if it is not done, it means that there is something wrong.”