5 footballers who were banned for racism

Racism has been a problem in football for many years, and despite the attempts from various bodies – FIFA and the FA to name two – to “kick it out”, it remains an issue at the forefront of the sport. However, it’s one thing for a player to suffer racist abuse at the hands of ignorant opposing fans, but it’s another entirely to find themselves abused by a fellow professional.

It’s an unfortunate part of the game that footballers will give each other some abuse on the pitch, but when it degenerates into racism it becomes all that much worse. It’s been relatively rare to see, thankfully, but the following five players were all banned for racist taunts in some shameful scenes.

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#1: John Terry

Terry was accused of using a racial slur towards Anton Ferdinand

The case of Chelsea’s ‘captain, leader, and legend’ John Terry is a curious one as the former England defender was actually cleared of all charges of using racist abuse in a court of law, and yet a later investigation from the FA found him guilty and saw him slapped with a four-match ban.

The incident in question came when Terry’s Chelsea were playing QPR in November 2011. Terry was alleged to have called QPR defender Anton Ferdinand a “f**king black c*nt”, and video footage of the incident quickly emerged, with expert lip readers confirming that Terry had used the slur.

For his part, Terry claimed that he hadn’t aimed the slur at Ferdinand and had actually been asking the player if he mistakenly thought he’d used it. The court cleared Terry, feeling that there was no way of proving the context of the slur although Terry did admit to uttering it. But the FA weren’t happy with the decision and launched an investigation of their own.

The investigation ended with the FA coming to the conclusion that Terry was guilty of using abusive and insulting words which included a reference to the race of Ferdinand, and hit him with a four-match ban as well as a £220,000 fine. The truth of the matter is still a question mark, although Terry didn’t contest the ban or fine.

#2: Emre Belozoglu

Emre Belozoglu became the first Turkish footballer to be convicted of racism

Perhaps no other footballer has been accused of racism quite as many times as Turkey’s Emre Belozoglu. The controversy began while he was playing for Newcastle United in 2006, when after a game with Everton, he was charged by the FA for using racist insults towards black players Joseph Yobo, Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott.

An investigation saw him cleared, but a year later he was accused of using racist insults by both El-Hadji Diouf and Alhassan Bangura. Again, neither accusation could be proven, and Emre was cleared of any wrongdoing after investigations had been launched. But when he moved back to Turkey with Fenerbahce he was not so lucky.

When Fenerbahce faced Trabzonspor in April 2012, a nasty incident occurred that saw Emre accused by former Tottenham player Didier Zokora of using a racist slur towards him. Zokora claimed Emre had called him a “f*cking n*gger”, and for his part, Emre admitted to using a “stupid word”, but claimed it was all in the heat of the match.

The Turkish FA didn’t see it like that and hit Emre with a two-match ban for using abusive language, but worse was yet to come – in June 2014 the case went to court and Emre became the first Turkish footballer to be convicted for racism – he was handed a two-and-a-half year suspended prison sentence.

#3: Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez infamously clashed with Patrice Evra in 2011

Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez was no stranger to controversy when he arrived at Liverpool, as he’d been involved in an unsavory incident while playing for Ajax that saw him bite an opposing player. But that wasn’t quite as bad as the incident in 2011/12 that saw him banned for using a racist insult towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

During a game between the rivals in October 2011, Suarez was accused of using the insulting term “negro” to refer to Evra on multiple occasions, and although he denied the claims, the FA still saw it fit to charge him with using abusive and insulting words, including a reference to the race of Evra.

Liverpool stood behind Suarez and for his part, the player claimed no racism was involved, as he stated that the term doesn’t mean the same in Spanish as it does in English and is seen as more of a friendly, colloquial term towards anyone with dark skin or even dark hair.

Unfortunately for Suarez the FA didn’t buy the excuse and handed Suarez a lengthy eight-match ban as well as a fine of £40,000. It wouldn’t be the first long suspension Suarez would face, but despite his biting controversies, it remains perhaps his lowest moment.

#4: Aleksandar Tonev

Aleksandar Tonev was banned for racism while representing Celtic

Bulgarian winger Aleksandar Tonev might not be the most famous name in football, despite making 23 appearances for his country since debuting in 2011. But perhaps he could be considered infamous, as he was banned for a lengthy period in 2014 by the Scottish FA for using an abusive language of a racist nature.

Tonev was playing for Celtic on a season-long loan from Premier League side Aston Villa, and the winger made his debut in September 2014 in a match against Aberdeen. During this match, Aberdeen defender Shay Logan accused him of hurling racist abuse at him – an allegation that Tonev immediately denied.

The SFA decided to investigate the incident, and deciding that Logan was a “more reliable and convincing witness” than Tonev, they handed the Bulgarian a long seven-match ban. Celtic decided to appeal the decision, claiming Tonev was not a racist, but when the appeal failed, they decided to take the matter no further.

It would be a quick stay at Celtic for Tonev after the ban, as he moved to Italian club Frosinone the following summer on a permanent deal.

#5: Edwin Cardona

Colombia's Edwin Cardona made a racist gesture towards South Korean players

Colombia’s Edwin Cardona might not have used racist language towards an opponent, but an offensive gesture made towards South Korea’s captain Sung-Yueng Ki landed him in just as much hot water, as he was banned by FIFA for five international games following the incident in November 2017.

During a friendly game between the two international sides, Cardona found himself caught up in a mild scuffle between his teammate James Rodriguez, and Korean players Ki and Jin-Su Kim. As the referee attempted to calm matters down, Cardona was caught on camera making a “squinting-eyes” gesture towards the Korean captain, which went unnoticed by the referee but horrified fans who were watching the game.

FIFA was outraged too and decided to sanction Cardona, banning him for five international games for “making a discriminatory gesture towards an opponent”. Luckily for Cardona, FIFA appeared to have some mercy – allowing the player to serve his ban during friendly games and thus meaning he’d still be eligible for the World Cup in Russia.

Cardona apologized for any offense he’d caused with the gesture, but the damage had already been done – he’d joined perhaps the most shameful list of players in modern football.