Newcastle United’s Sammy Ameobi has spoken of his first-hand experience of racism.
Sammy, whose elder brother, Shola, also played for United, starred in the Toon’s impressive 2-1 win over league leaders, Chelsea, at the weekend.
But the 22-year-old, whose debut alongside Shola prompted the famous Toon chant ‘There’s Only Two Ameobis’, said he suffered racist jibes at school.
He said: “I would report it to my teachers and let them deal with it, because I think that is the best way to handle it.
“As a kid you can get yourself in trouble if you try and deal with all the abuse you might be getting.
“I know I am not perfect, I could get aggressive and get into trouble. My school dealt with it in a professional manner.
“The people who did it got into trouble when they abused me.”
Sammy attended Heaton Manor School in Newcastle, and Grindon Hall Christian School in Sunderland, leaving with an impressive academic record of 11 GCSEs, before joining the Newcastle United academy on a scholarship.
But he has endured further taunts on Twitter after finding professional success.
Three years ago, two teenagers were arrested over racist name-calling on the social networking site.
He posted at the time: “Sad to see some people are still racist nowadays.”
He said: “That was a surprise. I immediately reported it to the club, and police tracked down those responsible. They were punished, I wanted to let them deal with it.”
He has now joined up with his £9 million team-mate, Siem DeJong, to speak about their experiences for the Show Racism the Red Card campaign.
Both appear on a video released by the group on Monday.
They play for a team with 16 different nationalities, and NUFC have introduced a prayer room at St James Park for their Muslim players.
Sammy added: “Picking on someone on the basis of what they believe in is just another form of racism.
“A lot of the lads here are Muslim, so it is good we can all come together, and fight it as one.
“One form of racism is just as serious as the another, it not just against a black person, but any religion.”