Guardiola urges to stop racism after Sterling incident

World
Europe

Pep Guardiola, manager of English Premier League champions Manchester City, has come out in strong defense for his winger and has urged everyone to fight against racism after talismanic striker Raheem Sterling was racially abused by fans in the their 2-nil loss at Chelsea on Saturday.

Guardiola made the statement as his side are looking to lock up the top spot in Group A when they host bottom-placed side Hoffenheim on Wednesday evening, after securing their place in the Champions League knockouts.

Raheem Sterling of Manchester City during the Premier League match against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in London, December 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

The City manager said, “If it was just football, we would be safe, but there's racism everywhere. What happens today with immigrants and refugees all around the world, how we treat them, when once in our lives we were refugees, our grandfathers, our great-grandfathers or grandmothers were refugees.”

“How we treat society is unfortunate – it's in everywhere. That is why we have to fight it everyday. They need to have zero tolerance with that issue,” he added.

“Raheem is an incredible human being. It's tough to understand today what happened years ago to black people in history. You have to protect them, you have to protect how equal we are, all together.”

Colin Wing, a Chelsea fan, had been accused of racially abusing Sterling during his side's EPL game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He later apologized to the players even though he denied using racial language.