Emmanuel Adebayor resigned to racism after Tottenham fans' chant

Posted Thursday, April 07, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Real Madrid striker says racism is still 'part of life'
• Togolese feels supporters' chants were a racist slur

Emmanuel Adebayor resigned to racism after Tottenham fans' chant
Real Madrid's Emmanuel Adebayor claims Spurs fans chanted racist abuse at him.

Emmanuel Adebayor has talked about the sense of helplessness and resignation he felt after Tottenham Hotspur fans abused him with what he perceives as a racist and insulting chant on Tuesday night.

The Real Madrid striker, who is reviled by a section of the Tottenham support for his links to Arsenal, where he played for three and a half seasons, scored two goals in his team's 4-0 Champions League victory at the Bernabéu.

But he was dismayed to hear the chant that some Tottenham fans have directed at him over the years, which says: "Your dad washes elephants, your mother's a whore." The Togolese feels that the first part of it is a racial slur and he is obviously unhappy about the second part.

"Big players better than me have tried to stop that, but it's not easy at all," he said. "Racist? We have done everything we can to show the red card to racism. But people are still into it, that's part of life.

"Coming from Africa, I'm just very happy, playing football is like a dream that comes true. And I just want to send a big support to all Africa, with what is happening in Libya and what is happening in the Ivory Coast. I've got a lot of family, a lot of friends.

"Racists are always there and we can't do anything to stop it. Samuel Eto'o and big players have spoken about it better than I do, but it's not stopped them."

Uefa can fine a club the minimum of £20,000 if it finds their supporters guilty of racist chanting. The Uefa match delegate has not yet reported the Tottenham fans but the governing body will keep a close eye on next Wednesday's second leg at White Hart Lane where Adebayor could face a hostile reception, if he plays.

A Tottenham spokesman said: "The chant referred to has been previously discussed with the CPS, who do not consider it racist. We shall continue to remind our fans that we do not tolerate any form of obscene or abusive chanting."

Adebayor made a habit of scoring for Arsenal against Tottenham – his tally stood at eight in nine derbies – but he now hopes that his goals against them in a Real shirt will help to secure a permanent transfer to the Bernabéu, where he is on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season.

When he moved from Eastlands in January the Real general manager, Jorge Valdano, said: "We are looking for someone who can help us for six months. We are not looking to sign a permanent striker." The clubs have, though, agreed a ¤15m (£13.2m) fee in case Real do want to make the deal permanent and Adebayor is determined to convince them to take him.

"I will just keep going and keep working hard at training," he said. "I have still got one or two months to go until the end of the season and the club will decide what they want to do. Of course, I want to stay."