Divock Origi recalls ‘totally breaking down’ after suffering racist abuse as 12-year-old

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Liverpool forward Divock Origi has shared the pain of his first experience of racism in football, which happened when he was still a pre-teen by a parent of an opponent.

The Belgium international of Kenyan descent spoke openly about feeling “belittled” by the abuse he received and highlighted the scale of impact it had on him afterwards.

As part of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign, the 25-year-old admitted he has experienced discrimination on account of the colour of his skin “a couple of times.”

The first instance Origi can recall was “when I was younger – I was maybe 12-ish.

“We had a game away and one of the parents racially abused me because I was having a good game and I was playing against his son.

“He was saying very hurtful stuff and I remember breaking down after the game, crying.

“Not knowing where it comes from because it was from a grown man.

“I couldn’t understand why that would happen to me; it was horrible.

“I broke down, like totally broke down. I couldn’t play anymore because it hurt me right to the core.

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“I felt belittled, I felt ashamed. Even my team-mates, just looked on like woah, what just happened? It had quite a big impact on me.”

Origi added that support for Black Lives Matter was “was a beautiful sign” because of the players being so united in kneeling.

He also circled the joy of multi-culturalism in football dressing rooms by walking through Liverpool’s.

“You see Brazilians, you see people from Guinea, you see English people,” Origi said.

“You see everything and it comes together in one dressing room.

“The interaction is very funny! Sadio [Mane] comes in traditional Senegalese clothing, which I love.

“Then you can see Robbo [Andrew Robertson], he’s very Scottish and you can see his influences.

“We all come together and speak the language of football, and that’s what makes it so beautiful!”

On Africa’s influence on the game, Origi added: “It’s the swagger that we bring to the game. The athleticism. The joy, you know, African culture is very joyful. We like to express ourselves through music, dancing and creativity.

“I think those are all things that we try to bring to the game and it’s what makes the game even more beautiful because it has many different aspects.”

As part of its long-term commitment to address racism in football and wider society, the Premier League is launching a series of new educational resources featuring content from Premier League players, including Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Neal Maupay, Conor Coady, Michail Antonio, Divock Origi, Hamza Choudhury and more. These free teaching materials are designed to help stimulate discussion on equality and discrimination in the classroom and will be available to more than 18,000 primary schools in England and Wales through the Premier League Primary Stars programme. The resources will also be made available to older children and young people via the Premier League Kicks and Inspires programmes. For more information on the new educational resources visit plprimarystars.com

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