Hertha Berlin of Germany defender, Jordan Torunarigha has become the latest Nigerian-born player to face racist attacks while appearing in action for the country of his birth, as he was at the centre of slurs from Honduras fans during an international friendly.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Torunarigha was in action for Germany’s under-23 national team in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games, but his teammates decided to walk off the pitch in protest of insults directed at the 23-year-old defender
Less than a week after a similar scenario played out around England’s Nigerian-born winger, Bukayo Saka, after missing a penalty kick in the team’s European Championship final loss to Italy, Torunarigha became the latest victim of trolling.
The latest incident saw the German Olympics team’s friendly against Honduras come to an abrupt end on Saturday when the players walked off the field because of alleged racist abuse directed at Torunarigha.
It also marks a repeat of incidents in February last year, when the Hertha Berlin defender was targeted by Schalke 04 fans during a DFB-Pokal encounter, after which the offending team was fined €50,000 for the incident by the country’s football governing body.
Torunarigha’s latest brush with racists comes from his appearance with the German under-23 national team, as they faced Honduras in a build-up atch for the 2020 Olympics, which begin in Tokyo, Japan next week.
Both teams were tied at 1-1, with Germany equalising through another Nigerian-born lad, Felix Uduokhai, but the players later on walked off the field with five minutes left to play, as they claimed Torunarigha had been racially insulted.
A statement by Germany’s football association (DFB) alleged that the insult was made by one of Honduras’ players, but there were no spectators at the match, which was played in Wakayama, Japan.
DFB’s statement added: “The game had to be stopped five minutes before the end when the score was 1-1. After our player Jordan Torunarigha was racially insulted, the German team left the field together.”
