Ex-Cagliari striker Fafa Picault has accused the club’s Primavera coach at the time of ‘calling me a monkey or telling me I need to go back to the jungle’.
Picault began his playing career with Cagliari, playing for the Rossoblu between 2006 and 2011, and has since forged a career in MLS.
Now, the 29-year-old – born in New York to Haitian parents – has suggested that he left Italy due to suffering sickening racist abuse in Sardinia.
“You have different forms of racism,” he said during a live Facebook broadcast.
Ex-Cagliari striker Fafa Picault has accused the club’s Primavera coach at the time of ‘calling me a monkey or telling me I need to go back to the jungle’.
Picault began his playing career with Cagliari, playing for the Rossoblu between 2006 and 2011, and has since forged a career in MLS.
Now, the 29-year-old – born in New York to Haitian parents – has suggested that he left Italy due to suffering sickening racist abuse in Sardinia.
“You have different forms of racism,” he said during a live Facebook broadcast.
“I’ve dealt with it differently in different locker rooms and in stadiums. When I moved to Italy I was about 16 and I moved up to the first team around 17 years old.
“I was split between what a lot of young players do where you train with the first team and go back and play reserve games with the reserve team.
“Our coach at the time with the reserve team was probably one of the worst people I’ve met.
“Daily, I had to deal with him calling me a monkey or telling me I need to go back to the jungle in Africa, black players don’t have technique, you’re just fast, go run, we brought you here to run.
“He didn’t bring me, the President brought me, but he said that’s what I was brought for.
“When we would train he would just say anything that was nasty. If I told a younger guy to do something he would say: ‘No, you have to do it because you’re black.’
“I would have monkey stickers posted in my locker at times and I was getting in fist fights maybe twice a week.
“I was managing that with AP classes back home that I was finishing online and also still have to perform on the soccer field – which was probably the easiest part.
“The easiest part was the soccer at the time.”
Cagliari fans have also gained notoriety for racially abusing Blaise Matuidi, Moise Kean and Romelu Lukaku in the last two years.
"The easiest part was the soccer"
Thank you @Fafagoal23 for being open about your experiences.
Full Conversation: https://t.co/GDjQl1Iyr1 pic.twitter.com/ACIl7PhpYG
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) June 18, 2020