Viareggio tournament, Nigerian team withdraws: «racist Europe»- Corriere.it

It was supposed to be a party, but instead it turned into an ugly story that has nothing to do with sport. The context is the Viareggio Tournament, the historic competition dedicated to youth sectors. The protagonists are the boys of the Ladegbuwathe Nigerian team that — after the victory on their debut with lo Sports Recife and loss in the second match against the Imolese — found itself fighting for the next round in the last match of the group. On the other side the Representative


of Serie D
who is 2-0 up in the 76th minute and with one more man for the sending off of Emmanuel (double yellow). The latter is later consoled on the sideline by his coach, which quite inexplicably is kicked out by the referee. A few minutes go by and the score is 3-0. Not only though, because the Nigerians remain even in 9 for the red in Garuba. Hence the decision to leave the field in the 85th minute, with some members of the African delegation who entered the green rectangle urging the boys to go to the locker room.

“Europe still racist”

A drastic choice, later justified by a press release published on his Instagram profile: «If we took the boys off the pitch it’s because we had to protect them from the offenses they were receiving both on the pitch and in the stands. The referee didn’t punish the opponents’ continuous bad fouls, waving three red cards at us which ensured victory for the Serie D team. We leave this competition with the belief that all decisions against us are related to the fact that we are black. Our boys between 16 and 18 arrived here with the hope of being able to show their qualities and instead they will go home knowing that Europe is still racist, that all this happened because of the color of their skin. In 2023, in a stadium where a billboard with the words “No to racism” stands out, we would not have expected all of this. We ask the organizers for a special apology and the possibility of replaying the match on neutral ground and with a correct referee. Our footballers cannot go into adult life thinking that cheating is okaydiscrimination should never have space, especially in a youth circle”.