West Ham winger Michail Antonio has spoken out on the pervasive issue of racism in modern football, calling for clubs to adopt a 'zero-tolerance' approach to help stamp it out.
Reports of racial abuse of footballers remain in the headlines, as West Ham fans were alleged to have made derogatory comments towards Mohamed Salah in their 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the London Stadium earlier this month.
Millwall have been charged on Thursday for the behaviour of fans in their FA Cup tie with Everton, while Raheem Sterling publicly spoke out earlier this season after comments made by Chelsea fans, and Antonio says that while racists are now firmly in the minority, more needs to be done to put a stop to such incidents.
"I feel like black players have come a long way," said the 28-year-old, via the Mail. "Every team in the league has a black player.
"It's just a few people out there being ignorant. I feel it's more ignorance than anything else. They want to throw an insult out to try to hurt us. But we've come a long way, we've got a tougher skin and it's not going to affect us.
"But zero-tolerance would be massive. I feel players should be allowed to leave the field. As a team, walk off the field.
"Then the next game should be behind closed doors. As soon as it gets shut down everywhere, then it will stop. As soon as you let it slide once, it's going to keep sliding."
Source : 90min