Manchester United striker and Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic has hit out at his home country’s media for what he calls “undercover racism.” Ibrahimovic, currently out for an extended period of time due to a re-aggravation of a knee injury that kept him out of action for seven months during 2017, claims that he has not received the favorable, positive coverage he thinks he deserves.
Ibrahimovic believes that a player of his stature and accomplishment should deserve more accolades, and the reason he does not is due to his last name. The international superstar says he’s been held back because does not have a more traditionally Swedish surname.
“What does the Swedish media do? They defend me or do they jump on and attack me?” He asked in an interview with French outlet Canal+.
“They still attack me, because they cannot accept that I am Ibrahimovic. If another player would do same mistake I do, they would defend him. But when it comes to me, they don’t defend me.”
“This is about racism. This is about racism. I don’t say there is racism but I say there is undercover racism.
“This exists, I am 100 percent sure. Because I am not Andersson or Svensson. If I would be that, trust me, they would defend me even if I would rob a bank. They would defend me, I tell you.”
It’s well worth mentioning that in December 2014, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter named him the second-greatest Swedish sportsperson of all time, after only tennis legend Björn Borg.
Ibrahimovic is currently the second-most decorated active footballer in the world, having won 32 trophies in his career. He’s also scored 62 goals in 116 appearances for the Swedish national team.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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