Alas, I didn’t see this one coming, nor did you, but hey, there are few surprises if any in this world. That Lionel Messi is apparently a racist!The world’s top footballer has been plunged into a racism row following claims by a fellow professional player Royston Drenthe that the Barcelona and Argentina star called him a “negro” two years ago.Footballers are no saints, nor am I, which is I’ll assume this to be true, but I really don’t give a monkey’s backside. Drenthe is attention seeking, and I have already shared my view with one or two colleagues who were jumping up and down when they read the story in London tabloids The Sun and Daily Mail on Wednesday. Dutch winger— on loan at English Premier League side Everton from Real Madrid — said he was constantly taunted by Messi during his ill-fated loan spell with Hercules.In an interview with a Dutch magazine Helden, Drenthe admitted, “I played many times against Messi and we always had problems with one another.”“You know what bothers me so much? That tone with which he always says, ‘negro, negro’. I understand that ‘negro’ is commonly used in South America. But we can’t stand it.”He added, “I had a minor clash with Messi. He shook my hand before the game but during it he again said, ‘Hola negro’ to me a few times. “I didn’t get a handshake from him afterwards. I don’t expect an invite to his birthday party.”This, going by the accuser’s tale of accounts, happened two years ago but one wonders why it took so long for Drenthe to come out at this time when Messi, who has been named the world’s best by football’s rulers FIFA for the past three years, is again the front-runner to retain the award.Before any righteous gets me wrong, I’m not condoning racism, whether by Messi or anyone else but just question the timing of the claims, why come out now, and through the media instead of the right channels like La Liga governing body, LFP?If you’ve ever played football, you’ll realise that some many crazy things go between rivals players on the field of play including calling each other names and swearing yet very few come out in the light, reason being—it’s bunter that these players enjoy especially if it goes in their favour.You see, there are two sides to a coin, and without sounding racist or condoning the act, I believe Drenthe must have said something that probably provoked Messi to call him a “negro” but may be he came out on the losing side of the bunter in the heat of the game.Drenthe has a history of being confrontational and has had problems at every club he’s been at including Real Madrid where he was always involved in training ground fights with team mates. After his loan season at Everton where he scored four goals in 27 games, he has been told to stay away from the club after a bust-up with manager David Moyes and is neither expected back at Merseyside nor in the Spanish capital.I thought “Black” in Spanish was “Negro”, so he just called him “Black” in Spanish which I assume is Messi’s native language. As most fans will remember, Manchester United defender Patrice Evra made similar claims about Luis Suarez of Liverpool, which eventually led to an eight-game ban. Suarez and Messi both come from South America, and Suarez claimed the term “negro” gets used more freely there.I’m black but I find this whole story just a load of nonsense from a player trying hard to find a new club and thinks by dragging Messi with him, could possibly help his cause. Try harder boy!
