Jude Bellingham says racism in football is ‘part of society’s cultural problem’

Jude Bellingham says racism in football is 'part of society's cultural problem'

‘Maybe we are alone’: Jude Bellingham questions whether authorities ‘care’ about racist abuse directed at Black footballers

Jude Bellingham, speaking to the Guardian Football Year on Monday, said: ‘I have no doubt that there are people out there who would love to see the likes of me, or any other Black professional footballer, banned for life from the game. I would love to be banned for life. But that’s only because of the way I play; because of my race.’

A former professional footballer who played in England’s top flight, Bellingham believes racism in football is part of society’s ‘cultural problem’, but he believes that his race makes him immune from it.

Speaking to the Guardian Football Year on Monday, he said: ‘I have no doubt that there are people out there who would love to see the likes of me, or any other Black professional footballer, banned for life from the game. I would love to be banned for life. But that’s only because of the way I play; because of my race.’

Jude Bellingham said racism in football was ‘part of society’s cultural problem’

Speaking to the Guardian Football Year on Monday, Jude Bellingham (pictured) said ‘that’s only because of my race’

He said there was a need for the people in charge of the game to be open to talking to people who feel offended by racism.

‘I think if they do take the time and they look at it and listen to it and maybe they take a bit from everybody they talk to, they might find that they can come to some kind of understanding of it – the problem,’ he said.

The 31-year-old, whose father is black, retired in 2007 after playing for Premier League club Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion and Brighton & Hove Albion.

He now finds himself in the spotlight as the founder of the Anti-Racism Football Foundation.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: ‘I think the players have been made to feel that they are above criticism and that if someone is upset, then it’s nothing to them – it’s just them being “nasty”.

‘That makes me angry; that’s the saddest thing. It’s not just the players

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