‘Embarrassing’ racism leaves Celtic star Scott Sinclair baffled

SCOTT SINCLAIR has added his voice to the racism debate, describing the behaviour of a noisy minority as an embarrassment.

The Celtic star spoke out ahead of a week which will see his team play away to Aberdeen on Boxing Day and against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.

Fixtures involving the Hoops and their rivals are highly-charged affairs, and Sinclair has been on the end of racial abuse against both.

A Rangers fan made gestures at the 29-year-old at a derby at Ibrox last year, and was banned indefinitely by the Light Blues.

Sinclair himself, meanwhile, picked up footage on Twitter of a Dons supporter using offensive language against him on a clip shot during the League Cup Final.

“I was flicking through some things on social media and came across it,” he said. “It’s one of those things that shouldn’t be happening. It’s 2018.

“It’s unacceptable, not just in football or sport but in society. It needs to be kicked out.

“It needs to stop and be shown as unacceptable to use racial slurs or abuse the ethnicity of players.

“I’ve had a lot of support from all sides, all sorts of fans. They know that it’s wrong.”

What baffles the Englishman is that many of those targeting him also support the black players at their own clubs.

“This is what I don’t understand. When I tweeted, I called them uneducated and that’s what they are,” he said.

“They are uneducated in this area. They have black players in their team so it’s very confusing.

“Why would someone use that sort of slur towards black players?

“It is embarrassing. It’s not acceptable for anyone in society to even think they can use that sort of language, whether they are at a football game or in the street.

“But it’s always around and it’s such a shame to keep hearing the racial slurs.

“I think there is at least more light to it now, with Raheem Sterling speaking out down south, and people are hopefully taking more note of the situation.

“In the past, players might have been racially abused and thought: ‘Never mind. I’m not going to say anything because nothing gets done’.

“But as things start being done, hopefully we can move forward into a more positive light.”

The Celt, meanwhile, remains disappointed at the cut in the Celtic fans’ ticket allocation for Saturday’s Old Firm showdown.

“It’s such a shame that our fans won’t be there in the same numbers,” he said. “Normally we have 7-8000. Now it’s 7-800. But that’s the way it is.

“We’ve just got to get on with it, go out there and make sure we win.”