By Daily Sports on March 28, 2017

Kelvin (not his real name) has pictures of himself on Facebook lining up alongside his white teammates in a club that competes in the lower reaches of Italian football. He’s the only African and black player in a club that participates in the Promozione which is the 7th level of the Italian league football. He writes: “Thank God for the victory and my goal today. I’m so happy.”

But underneath this public declaration of joy is a feeling of sadness he experiences from time to time, caused by that ageless world problem, racism; a problem he encounters within his club and the wider Italian society since he arrived in the country from the dangerous Mediterranean sea-crossing from Libya in 2014.

Before sojourning to Europe, Kelvin was a very highly rated player in the grassroots football circles of Benin City. He played in midfield for J.J Stars, a now defunct club and was admired for his defence-splitting passes, his meandering runs and versatility to play in any advanced position for his club. He was primed for a national under-17 call up and an invitation to a local or international club to further his career.

Due to the economic toughness of the times, a strangulating situation that has chased many Nigerians and Africans to Europe and the lure of living in the ‘developed world’, Kelvin joined the band of travelers to Italy en route the very risky water route that separates Libya from Italy. But he kept his football dreams alive, promising that he would make it in the round leather game in Europe even if he didn’t follow the more conventional route of getting a foreign football contract.

Kelvin quickly attracted the attention of football scouts in the refugee camp in Italy and he was snapped up by the Promozione club. He is no doubt happy that he has got his immigrant documents allowing him to work in Italy and that he has the platform to express his football talents. But he, like many other immigrant football players from Africa whose route to Italy were similar, is not happy with the racism he’s encountering frequently in Italian football.

“Quite frankly, they treat us (black African players) as inferior human beings,” Kelvin says.

This racism according to Kelvin manifests itself in the field of play even amongst teammates and in the way those at the higher hierarchy of lower league clubs treat their black players. “Racism is everywhere. When I lose the ball at times some of my white teammates use Italian language to racially insult me, thinking I won’t understand what they were saying.”

Apart from merely enjoying the thrills of the sport, it’s the dream of professional footballers to make money from football and young African players in Italy are not different in this regard. But Kelvin reveals that they (young black players) are suffering from pay discrimination in Italy. "I need a players’ agent now because I’m getting far less than I believe I’m worth. All black players playing in Italian lower leagues receive low pay compared to the whites here. They want the blacks to do most of the work but they do not give them as much money as they give the white players,” Kelvin complains.

Presido is another young player who left for Italy in 2015 from one of the grassroots clubs in Benin City. A fantastic winger who can operate from both flanks, his dream of fulfilling his football potentials at a professional level is being threatened by what he feels are racist attitudes of Italian lower league club owners.

“I’m so tired and frustrated by what’s happening here. We black players who came from Africa have been playing for this particular lower division club for many years but we’ve not been offered a proper contract, unlike some other obviously less talented Italian players who came very recently. It really weighs me down,” he sighs.

Continuing, Presido says: “They don’t pay us match allowances or training allowances and even kits are not provided for us like they do for their citizens. I wonder why they are treating us this way. We are all living one life.”

Away from the football, Presido says Italian society continues to be openly racist. “At times when a black guy is passing bye you will find a white man cover his nose in disgust as if to suggest that the black guy carries a bad odour.”

Presido complains that Italian society is notoriously more racist than the rest of Europe. “I’ve been to other countries in Europe but racism is more frequent in Italy. They are very open about it. Some of my few Italian friends even advice me to leave Italy if I hope to make a headway in life because, according to them, Italians generally don’t care for anyone.”

Source Daily Sports

Posted March 28, 2017

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