Prominent journalist, Mduduzi Mathuthu, opines that the Aston Villa fans who racially abused Zimbabwean footballer, Marvelous Nakamba, genuinely love him and need education rather than banishment.
Writing on microblogging site Twitter, Mathuthu argued that the Villa fans are celebrating Nkamba’s excellence though their chants are a mixture of ignorance and embedded racism. He writes:
What’s sad about this is that they really love Marvelous Nakamba and are celebrating his excellence, but unfortunately the truth about their chant is that it’s a mixture of ignorance and embedded racism.
I would pick education over banishment for deep down, these are Nakamba fans.
Aston Villa Football Club issued out a statement on Monday afternoon expressing its disgust over the racists’ chants directed towards two unnamed players, one of them presumed to be Nakamba.
In a video that surfaced on social media during Aston Villa’s 5-1 victory over Norwich at Carrow Road, some fans could be heard chanting:
Marvelous Nakamba / His dad’s a rasta / McGinn’s his master / His c_ck’s f_cking massive.
The “McGinn” in the chant is John McGinn, the white Scottish midfielder who also plays for Aston Villa.