Former Ghana international, Samuel Inkoom
Former Ghana international, Samuel Inkoom has revealed that he was racially abused during his time in Ukraine.
Inkoom joined Ukrainian topflight side Dnipro in 2011 from FC Basel.
However, in an interview, the former Asante Kotoko and Hearts right back revealed that bananas were thrown at him during a game against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The 34-year-old said despite facing such difficult moments, he’s always proud to be black and isn’t bothered by the discrimination.
“For me, any country I go to I psych myself that no, I’m not white and it’s not everything that I’ll get smoothly, so I don’t even pay too much attention towards that,” Inkoom told Accra-based Starr FM.
“I remember one of our games in Ukraine playing against Shakhtar Donetsk, there was a whole lot, there was a banana, I didn’t even pay attention.
“They were throwing bananas and stuff on the pitch, they think blacks are monkeys but I didn’t even show any signal of what they were talking about. I don’t feel anything, I’m proud that I’m black," he added.
Inkoom was part of the Black Satellites side that became the first, and so far only, African side to win the U20 FIFA World Cup in 2009.
He went on to play for clubs in Switzerland, France, Greece, the United States, Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria and Georgia.
For Ghana, he also amassed 44 caps, while representing his country in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and World Cup.