UK Edition
Racism in football cannot be solved overnight, says Danny Rose
Danny Rose has warned that racism in football cannot be “solved overnight” and has urged Uefa to get tough on the issue as they investigate a complaint made by his new England team-mate Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Hudson-Odoi was allegedly the subject of racist abuse at the end of Chelsea’s Europa League victory over Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine last week.
Another of Rose’s England team-mates Raheem Sterling was the victim of racism at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge earlier this season, while Rose has previously been targeted while playing for the country’s under-21s.
“I was only reading this morning about, what Callum had gone through,” Rose told the BBC. “It will not be solved overnight. There will be one or two further cases in the future before we get to a solution.”
Kiev fans have been accused of making monkey chants at Hudson-Odoi, something Rose was victim of while playing for England Under-21s against Serbia in 2012.
Serbia were fined £65,000 and ordered to play one Under-21 game behind closed doors, but Rose later claimed he had become “numb” to racial abuse and said he had “no faith” in the authorities to deal with it.
“I wouldn't like to say I don't have faith in the authorities to deal with it as that would be worrying, but it is sad,” said Rose. “I hope Callum has not been affected by it and if ever he needs to talk, I'm here.”
He added to the London Evening Standard: “My experience wasn’t the best during the incidents in Serbia, as well as the support I got afterwards.
“I hope it’s a lot better now with Callum, people check on him and the authorities do what’s right. We saw in my case it was poorly handled.”
Rose also backed Sterling’s public condemnation of some media following the racist abuse he suffered against Chelsea, saying: “Raheem was only saying what we all say in the dressing room. It's sad really, but he's 100 per cent spot on with what he said.
“The stick he used to get from the media was bang out of order. When he put the [Instagram] post up about the media we were all over the moon with that because we all agree. Fair play to Raheem.
“One of the few positive things about social media now is you have a voice and you can influence people.
“Now it's not just boys in the dressing room talking about the media targeting Raheem, the general public have now seen it. We hope it changes but it doesn't affect Raheem in any way, which we are all grateful for.”