Eto’o honoured for stance against racism in football

Four-time African Footballer of the Year, Samuel Eto’o, was honoured for his work countering racism in football, receiving the European Medal of Tolerance from the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, a non-governmental organisation.
The former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Barcelona forward has been subject to several racist incidences throughout his career and was awarded for his fight in combating racism behavior in the game at the Kensington Palace in London on Monday.
ECTR President, Moshe Kantor, explained that the 34-year-old was receiving the award for the ”the courage and will to stand against the racists, building awareness and inspiring fellow footballers and millions of football fans.”
Eto’o took a stand against racism in 2005 while still playing in Spain for Barcelona, threatening to leave the field of play after Zaragoza fans taunted the striker with monkey chants and threw peanuts every time he was on the ball.
On the matter he said, through a translator: ”You are born with love and you have to learn hatred, and that is something I discovered that day (in 2005).
”I decided to stand up and shout. My teammates supported me, the management supported me. Then I discovered the only path is to stand up and shout.
”Since that day, I decided to stand up and fight against all the abuses either in the stadium or outside the stadium.”
Racism continues to plague the game today with England, Russia, Spain and Italy among the countries affected by racism in football over the past season alone.
“‘When I was growing up I thought everything was a life of friendship, respect and sharing,” Eto’o continued. ”But I discovered that unfortunately you have people who aren’t behaving in the same way but have hatred.”
Eto’o is one of Africa’s most distinguished footballers, having won the UEFA Champions League on three occasion and the Africa Cup of Nations on two occasions, to go along with countless domestic and individual awards he has manged to scoop up since his professional career kicked-off in 1997.
”When I left Cameroon I was 15 years old… I had one dream,” Eto’o recalled
”It was to conquer the world. I wanted to prove that a young boy coming from Africa was able to succeed and achieve a lot.”
Eto’o currently plies his trade in the Serie A, where he recently scored his first goal for Sampdoria who he joined in January.