I suffered racist abuse but I’m proud to be black – Samuel Inkoom

Former Black Stars defender, Samuel Inkoom reveals that he encountered racism during his time playing in Ukraine.

The right-back who was named Black Meteors captain in 2011 by then-coach Kwesi Appiah, as Ghana started a mission to qualify for the Olympics having already missed out in the previous edition.

In an interview with Natalia Andoh on ‘The Zone’ on Starr FM, Inkoom recounts a memorable incident where fans threw bananas at him during a match against Shaktar Donetsk.

“But, I keep on saying this, to be very honest with you , am I white? I’m black so if I’m in some certain country and they say you’re black, why should I fight, it’s true that I’m black, and I’m proud that I’m black.

“Some of the footballers, have different mentality, you can’t be white and you cannot also think that you’ll go to somebody’s country and they will cherish you more than their people in the country.

“For me, any country I go to I psych myself that no, I’m not white and it’s not everything that I’ll get smoothly, so I don’t even pay too much attention towards that,” the World FIFA Under-20 World Cup winner stated.

“I remember one of our games in Ukraine playing against Shaktar Donetsk, there was a whole lot, there was a banana, I didn’t even pay attention they were throwing banana and stuffs on the pitch , they think blacks are monkey but I didn’t even show any signal of what that they were talking about.

“I don’t feel nothing, I’m proud that I’m black,” he added.

Inkoom emphasized that every footballer’s dream is to participate in bigger tournaments like the Champions League, World Cup and Europa League.

“That is the dream playing Champions League, World Cup in the senior level, playing in the Europa League as well, that is our dream as a footballer”.

He further expressed his passion for Arsenal and his desire to play for the team, but it did not materialize.

“Also, I’m an Arsenal fan as well. I wanted to play Arsenal but it didn’t happen and that doesn’t mean the teams I played for are not good”.

“Arsenal is one of the best team in the world, trust me”. He added.

The experienced fullback played an important role for different national teams in Ghana, such as the Back Stars and the Black Satellites. He achieved a remarkable victory with the U-20 World Cup in 2009, which no other African country has yet surpassed.

Additionally, as a former defender for FC Basel, he had a successful career in Europe, playing for multiple teams including Switzerland, Ukraine, France, Greece, the United States, Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Georgia.