Angloma: “I have had to experience these things. You come to think that your skin is unpleasant and you have no faith in yourself"

Valencia CF legend Jocelyn Angloma is the latest figure from the world of football to show his support to Mouctar Diakhaby, the victim of a racial insult during a match against Cádiz CF.

In a VCF MEDIA Radio interview, the former defender applauded the actions of Valencia CF and underlined that people must continue to fight to eradicate racism from football and society.

No to racism

It is a very serious issue. You have to support Mouctar Diakhaby. These things must not happen. These things happen and sometimes we forget that we are people. There is no choice but to denounce that and I believe that people are going to change. Those are insults that we do not want to hear. It really hurts to hear some people speaking like that. This is a global issue. In football it happens sometimes, and it cannot be allowed.

Message to Diakhaby

He is young, but he has to have faith in himself. You have to be mentally strong. I know he's going through some very bad times, but you have to have faith in yourself and learn. It is not what we want, but these things happen and you have to be mentally strong. And it's important know that his teammates, the club and the people are with him.

Valencia CF attitude

Valencia CF did the right thing and the clubs in Spain must do the same. It is a very serious issue and racist insults cannot be allowed anywhere in the world. You have to take action and do things so that everyone can have a normal life. There is no black, white or yellow, only people. I have had to experience these things. You come to think that your skin is unpleasant and you have no faith in yourself. It is very difficult. I think Mouctar is having a hard time. I experienced episodes of racism when I was in Italy, but not in Spain, except for some incidents off the field. I am a man like any other and I want to live normally. When these things happen you lose faith in yourself and it is not pleasant. We have to fight; Valencia CF and the people must fight against racism.

Taking action to find solutions

We have to act for our children, because children need to grow up knowing that life is for everyone, that colour does not matter. It's a problem for a lot of people, not just black people. We have to fight. Footballers are stars, children believe in them and they have to set an example. Things are not going to change quickly, but we must fight for a better world. We should do something. It is difficult to establish a protocol, but it is what we want. In France, games have been played behind closed doors as a result. I don't know what can be done to change things, honestly.