Racism on the air… criticism of a retired Serbian player who attacked black defenders | sports

Former Serbian player Rade Bogdanovic was subjected to harsh criticism and sparked a wave of anger after he made statements that were considered racist against black players, during his analysis of Belgium’s match against Iran in the second round of the Group G competitions of the World Cup.

Bogdanovic’s comments primarily targeted Belgian defender Nathan Ngoy, after he made a mistake that resulted in a penalty kick in the 66th minute, as a result of which he was directly sent off by referee Dario Herrera.

It seems that Ngoy’s behavior did not please Bogdanovic, who currently works as an analyst for World Cup matches on Serbian television, so he expressed his dissatisfaction with racist statements made by him live on air.

Bogdanovic commented: “Being the last defender and failing to handle a ball that is not fast, you hold it with your feet and then think about kicking it with the right foot and then fail, then you try to kick it with the left foot and fail again and then receive a red card. I have always said about these black players – and I am not racist – that they do not have the concentration necessary to last more than 60 to 80 minutes.”

He added: “I played with them and sometimes we had to protect our players from making mistakes. Modern football does not allow this type of mistake in a World Cup-level tournament.”

In an attempt to avoid controversy, the program presenter presented an example of the defense line of the French national team players, all of whom play football at the highest levels, but Bogdanovic insisted on his position.

He added: “If we go into details, which is possible, they also make mistakes. However, I am not generalizing, but the vast majority of them lack focus.”

Harsh criticism

The British newspaper Express criticized these statements, describing them as “racist and hateful.”

This is not the first time for Bogdanovic, who has previously been involved in similar statements, according to what the French newspaper Le Parisien reported.

In 2019, Bogdanovic attacked Borussia Dortmund’s defense in one of the matches, considering that it was no longer performing well since then coach Lucien Favre decided to field four black players.

During his football career, Bogdanovic represented many clubs, most notably Atletico Madrid of Spain, Breda of Holland, and Werder Bremen of Germany. He retired from the UAE jersey in 2005. He also played only 3 international matches, according to data from the famous Transfermarkt website.