QPR defender Nedum Onuoha has spoken of his disgust at the ugly scenes which marred Tuesday’s England Under-21 match against Serbia.
England’s Danny Rose says he was the victim of racist abuse throughout the game in Kruseva. The Football Association has reported “a number” of racist incidents to Uefa.
Serbia fans were heard making monkey-style noises as Rose left the field, after which players and members of both teams’ coaching staff were involved in a fracas.
The Serbian FA, who deny Rose’s claim, were fined £16,500 after Onuoha was racially abused during a 2007 Under-21 European Championship game against Serbia in the Netherlands.
And Onuoha told West London Sport: “What happened last night was just shocking to see.
“It’s unacceptable and it’s sad that it’s happening even in this day and age – it shouldn’t be something we even need to talk about.”
Rose, who was shown a red card for kicking the ball into the crowd at the end of the match, has called for Serbia to be banned from international competition.
Onuoha sympathises with him but believes the sport’s governing bodies face a tough task in trying to stamp out racism.
“It’s not going to be easy for Fifa and Uefa to deal with it because the whole thing goes beyond racism in football,” he said.
“Yes it happened at a football match and football can be used to mend society, but racism is a problem in society as a whole and regardless of what the likes of Fifa do there are still people who hold those [racist] views.
“The one thing they can do though is rescind that red card. He shouldn’t be punished for reacting to the kind of abuse he was getting.
“It’s one of these things – a bit like someone saying something sinister about a member of your family – that’s so sickening it can send even the most reserved kind of person into a rage.”
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This post was last modified on 18/10/2012