French youngster Seko Fofana is hailed by Manchester City’s web site for his “explosive pace and an eye for long-range strikes”, but the 19-year-old was in the headlines for unfortunate reasons Tuesday afternoon.
Fofana was the target of racial abuse by a player from Croatian club HNK Rijeka, and the Citizens promptly quit the match.
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Manchester City said they’ll be pursuing action with the Croatian Football Association on the matter.
44. City down to ten men, Seko Fofana shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident.
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 22, 2014
POSTPONED: The match has been called off.
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 22, 2014
Following an alleged incident in the latter stages of the first half of the game, being played in Novigrad, Croatia… (3/6)
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 22, 2014
We will insert the obligatory “This is disgusting and should never happen” statement here... but it’s sadly exhausting repeating ourselves over and over again. These sort of incidents will hopefully go away in time, but racism is alive and well-enough for some idiot player to justify saying something on a stage such as this. Gross.
Since we’d all like to get the racist taste off the page, here’s a look at Fofana winning Elite Development Squad player of the season. Check out the goal at the :45... an otherworldly long strike.