Samuel Eto'o: Money Talks

Money on Samuel Ett'o's mind?

Undoubtedly, football is the emperor of all sport and therefore, it comes as no surprise that ridiculous amount of money is pumped into the business which is why every year the salaries and market values of top footballers are constantly swelling. This raises the question – does the priority of a player lie in the wages or is he driven entirely by passion for the game? Let’s consider the probing case of Cameroon superstar Samuel Eto’o who without a shadow of a doubt, commands respect and is one of the most sought-after forwards in the world having won almost everything in sight – African and Olympic titles with Cameroon, La Liga and two Champions League titles with Barcelona, Serie A and one Champions League title with Inter Milan and being voted African footballer of the year on three occasions.

However, despite his success at every level, he has been the subject of constant racist abuse over the years. During his spell at FC Barcelona, in a match against Real Zaragoza in 2005, he was so frustrated with the taunts that he almost walked off the pitch saying “No more! No more! No more”! A few years later during his stint with Inter Milan, he was at the receiving end of insults in a game against Cagliari in 2010. These were some of his statements in the wake of the racist attacks directed towards him:

“Racism can happen anywhere and I don’t want my family to see it. It’s a sad situation in football. In my opinion the problem is getting bigger and the people that should come up with a solution are not doing it. So to protect my family, I don’t take them to the game.” – Eto’o speaking to CNN in 2008.

“It has never been easy and until the end of my career it won’t be easy”, Eto’o speaking to London Today in 2010.

Racism towards Eto\’o

So, under these circumstances, why has Eto’o signed up for relatively unknown FC Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia where racism is widespread in the sport? Here, he is geared up to earn 28 million Euros a year, thus becoming one of the highest paid footballers in the business. Anzhi Makhachkala owned by billionaire Suleyman Kerimov is going all out to propel the club to the top echelons of world football. However, the country has an infamous history of racism in football with several ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi supporters averse to players of colour. Brazilian Roberto Carlos, who signed up with Anzhi in February 2011 has been the most recent victim of discrimination on two occasions in the space of seven months! A few years back, Russian supporters meted out the same treatment to a few dark-skinned players playing for Marseille. Former Cameroon defender Jerry Christian Tschuisse who has played in Russia has admitted that he has endured enough racist taunts “to fill an entire book”. “People shouting at me: ‘Oi, black guy, what are you doing in here?’ And there have been fights, too”, he said.

“The majority of supporters here don’t like black players at all” – Alexander Bogomolov, Russian football journalist to the BBC in 2003.

Russia battles Racism

The Eto’o transfer has sent shockwaves across the footballing world and debates continue over the striker’s baffling move. For fans like us, we will be missing out on catching one of the world’s feared strikers in action. The standard of Russian football is improving but it cannot match the excitement of the top four leagues. Eto’o is bound to score goals aplenty in Russia, but it is clearly evident that the sole motive behind his move is money. Otherwise, why would a player so frustrated with discrimination directed at him move to a club destined to miss out on next season’s Champions League when he is in prime form and has a lot to offer?

In sport, the colour of money is so empowering that it has the licence to break barriers and transcend boundaries. But, can money overcome racism in the sport? Partially, is the answer. Maybe, top players should be roped in to launch a campaign against racism in the sport and hope to inspire people to refrain from the injustice. When you have the Chelseas and the Madrids signing up players from different backgrounds to play in the respective leagues, a certain element of racism is wiped out but the root cause of racism lies in the minds of the people and that’s something money can’t buy.