‘Maybe we are alone’: Jude Bellingham questions whether authorities ‘care’ about racist abuse directed at Black footballers
Jude Bellingham believes that it is important for authorities to take a stand against racism. Pictured is Jude after signing for Leeds. Picture: PA
Jude Bellingham believes that racism in football needs a stronger response from police or football authorities.
The Leeds United midfielder has spoken about the problems faced by Black players and why he believes that racism is part of the football culture.
He said: “It makes me feel very, very angry when I see the abuse that goes on.
“I feel very angry that my beautiful family and friends who are from a different background would have to live with something that they could not even fight off in the street. “The pain is indescribable. But it’s important to have the response so that it stops.
“You have to look at the whole way that we have been treated. When I was in my prime in England, I was treated very, very well and to have some of these things happening to me, it makes me very angry and I want to try and make that response stronger.”
The 28-year-old, who is Black and from Bradford, was signed by Leeds in January for an undisclosed fee of around £4.7million.
But it’s clear that his career has had a rocky start and he has found himself at the centre of the controversy surrounding racism.
Leeds’ Jude Bellingham after signing for Championship club Leeds back in 2008 – less than two years after his family were attacked on a night out
It prompted a report into how Leeds treated its new signings upon signing for the Championship club.
Jude’s father James told the Yorkshire Evening Post about his son’s experiences at the club.
He said: “We believe all the allegations and we feel he would have been safe and taken care of if they had done that.
“Jude is a black man in an English football club. He should have been treated as a human being and not just a football player. It was the wrong way to do it.”
Jude was accused of racism when the Leeds manager was sacked after an FA investigation into the club’s decision not to sign the Black player.
But
