Players Views

Kieron Dyer

England

On suffering from Racism in Football

What are your thoughts on the racist abuse that the England players received when they played in Slovakia in October?
What stuck out most of all is when the stretcher came on. The four stretcher men were making monkey noises at Ashley Cole because when they left the pitch he was preparing to take a thrown-in. When the men with the stretcher are doing that it's quite sickening. If nothing is done players could reach a certain point where they snap and then you might see something like what happened when Eric Cantona attacked a racist fan in the crowd. That's not what we want to see in football so the authorities must act.

On the anti-racist campaign
Campaigns like this are good, because if there is going to be any long-term solution, it has to start with education. That's the only way to stamp it out altogether. This is a good time to step up the campaign to try and encourage FIFA and UEFA to take drastic action to stop this kind of racism. What happened in Slovakia was terrible.

Advice to Young People suffering racist abuse
Tell a Teacher. Don't retaliate. Tell your parents. Don't retaliate because if you do, you've let the racists win. The best way is to get it sorted, tell people about it .. get it stopped.

On Asians in Football
Its changing. The Asians are into it. Michael Chopra is here, breaking all the scoring records at U-17 level. He is one for the future. Its like the African players who are household names - give it 5 years and Asians will be the same. There is Nkata from Burma - he is one of the best, he is worshipped.

Trivia

Favourite film: Scarface
Favourite player: Maradonna, Person most admire - My Mum.
Favourite book: Tony Adams - Addicted
Favourite TV: Friends/AllyMcBeal/Sex & The City