Former Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor has criticised Nigeria international striker Tolu Arokodare over his poor performance against Crystal Palace in yesterday’s English Premier League 0-1 defeat.
A summer signing from Belgium side Genk, the lanky forward had a glorious chance of putting his team in the lead against Palace, but shoot tamely from the spot.
After the game, Adebayor who was an analyst for the Premier League production stated that Tolu should have done better against Palace with his overall contribution.
“He (Tolu Arokodare) doesn’t know what his doing. When you’re in front of the defender, the only thing he can do is either foul you or leave you to finish the ball”, he said at full time.
“Tolu is lacking in confidence, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. That’s a big lack of confidence. You can’t take a penalty like that in this kind of game”.
Meanwhile the penalty miss drew racist abuse the way of the Nigerian after the game on social media, and he posted it sparking a reaction from his club backing him.
“There is no place for racism – in football, online, or anywhere in society. We condemn this abhorrent and unlawful behaviour in the strongest possible terms.
“Tolu has our full and unwavering support. No player should be subjected to such hatred simply for doing their job. We stand firmly alongside him, and alongside all footballers who are forced to endure this abuse from anonymous accounts acting with apparent impunity.
“The club has reported the posts to the relevant platforms and will work with the Premier League and the authorities to help identify those responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken. We will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination,” Wolves said in the statement.
Tolu had earlier reacted to the insults. It’s still unbelievable to me that we’re playing in a time where people have so much freedom to communicate such racism without any consequences.
“These individuals should have no place in our game and collectively we have to take action to punish everyone who taints the sport like this, no matter who they are,” Arokodare wrote on his Instagram page.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
