Thuram: "Mbappé? We have to respect his decision"

"When I was a player I suffered from racism, it remains because there are people who are interested in this not changing," said the former world champion

   MADRID, 10 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Former French soccer player Lilian Thuram, world and European champion in 1998 and 2000, invited to "respect" PSG striker Kylian Mbappé's decision to renew with the Parisian club, and confessed that during his time as a player he suffered from racism, a problem which, according to him, is maintained because there are people interested in the situation "not changing".

"Mbappé? Kylian's personal decision must be respected," Lilian Thuram pointed out at the fourth edition of 'Marca Sport Weekend' in Malaga, who also did not delve into the possible signing of former Real Madrid player and former coach Zinedine Zidane as Paris coach Saint-Germain.

In a round table, Thuram recalled the episodes of racism he suffered when he was a soccer player. "I suffered racism. In some stadiums when I went out on the field they made me the monkey gesture. Racism has a long history. And most people don't know that history. Ever since people made that gesture to me, I knew it came from the classification of people in relation to the color of their skin," he lamented.

The problem, in his opinion, is that his own teammates told him that the problem "was not that serious." "The leaders of my clubs told me that it was not that serious. The most dangerous thing was not the people who made those monkey signs, but the players or leaders who did not recriminate it. At the same time I understand their reaction because the violence that is directed against black people has been accepted for centuries, like violence against women. So people think it's not serious, "he stressed.

On whether a rival player has ever made a racist comment to him, Thuram replied: "Yes, it happened to me when I was young. In Italy, as soon as I arrived, a rival told me something about the color of my skin. But the problem is not I have but the racist person. Something must be done because this is a form of covert violence", denounced the former Juventus soccer player and, among others, FC Barcelona.