Tweet claims African players “need brains” to be able to play football.
Ex-Socceroo Scott Chipperfield has been labeled a racist after Tweeting comments about a player saying “typical African” adding “you need brains to play football”.
Chipperfield’s comments were aimed at Ivory Coast player Serey Die, who plays for his former club FC Basle, and it remains to be seen if the comments were intended as tongue-in-cheek.
However, they did not com across that way as A-League player hit out as his comments calling him a numbskull” and a “Neanderthal”.
Chipperfield, who was a member of the Australian national team in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup, said “Serey die looks like a typical African. Forget how to play. Needs brains to play football.”
Englishman Paul Ifill, the son of English and Barbadian parents, and Bruce Djite, whose father was born in Ivory Coast and mother in Togo, responded to Chipperfield’s comments.
Neither player accused Chipperfield of racism, although others on the social media site did.
Chipperfield later deleted the offending tweet after copping a barrage of abuse, but not before he also sent “Life is getting out of control. U can call me racist but I don’t care. I am what I am.”.
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