Wayne Rooney has spoken of the moment a player he managed broke down in tears after suffering racist abuse, and said football must introduce stricter punishments such as points deductions to tackle discrimination.
Speaking on his new BBC podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show, the former England and Manchester United captain described comforting a player during his time in charge of DC United. “I had it in DC with one of my players who got racially abused and he was crying on my chest,” Rooney said.
His comments come in the wake of two high-profile incidents last week: Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo was allegedly racially abused by a spectator during a 4-2 defeat at Liverpool, while Tottenham forward Mathys Tel received racist abuse online after missing a penalty in the Super Cup loss to Paris St Germain.
Rooney said offenders often dismiss their words as a “throwaway line” without realising the hurt they cause. He argued that education alone is not enough and that clubs must be penalised. “You have to hit the clubs because that’s the only way it will stop. If there is ignorance, the fans will still do it,” he added.
The former striker called for points deductions or financial penalties, saying “hit them in the pocket” was necessary, and urged the relevant authorities to take serious action. “Hopefully the right people sit down with the right organisations to try and get something serious in place.”
