A footballer from Ivory Coast has alleged that he faced racial abuse and a physical assault by a group of individuals at a football venue in the Malappuram district of Kerala, a southern state in India.
The footballer, identified as Dairrassouba Hassane Junior, lodged a police complaint detailing the incident that occurred on March 10 in Areekode, a village within the district where he had arrived to participate in a Sevens football tournament.
Sevens Football is a popular sporting event in Kerala, known for matches held in crowded local stadiums, typically between November and May. Junior represented the Jawahar Mavoor club in the tournament organized by a local association called Town Team Chemrakkattur.
Junior recounted that the attack commenced when he approached the corner flag to take a corner kick while his team was leading the match. He alleged that spectators and locals directed racial slurs at him, referring to him as a “monkey” and a “black cat.” The situation escalated when someone threw a stone at him, striking him on the head. When he turned around, more stones were hurled at him, and the verbal abuse intensified.
A video capturing the incident circulated widely on social media, depicting Junior being assaulted by the mob. Reports suggest that if it weren’t for the intervention of some players who escorted Junior to safety, the outcome could have been far worse.
Junior described the assault as severe, stating that he managed to escape only after supporters from his team intervened and halted the attackers.
It’s worth noting that such instances of violence are unfortunately commonplace in Kerala’s amateur football scene. In a similar incident last year, a football tournament in the state’s Kozhikode district descended into chaos when players from two teams engaged in a massive brawl following a contentious foul.
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