(ThyBlackMan.com) Although the NFL and college football are arguably the two most popular sports in America, the world still views soccer as the main attraction. Expect the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be one of the biggest sporting events of this summer and there is always major news due to the many professional soccer leagues throughout the globe. Unfortunately, there is also racial controversies involving soccer fans committing acts of racism and using racist language that occur often in several countries. One incident that happened to promising American teenage soccer player Chris Gloster is both saddening and hard to come to grips with.
Chris Gloster is an 18 year old from South Orange, New Jersey, who plays the defender position for soccer club Hannover 96 in Germany. He is a skilled player who has the respect of his U.S. Under-20 coach Tab Ramos, who has said that, “In the U-17 World Cup he was good, but now I think Gloster would be a starter in MLS, I think for almost any team, as a left back.” Gloster made the very difficult decision to move to Hanover, Lower Saxony in Germany in the summer of 2018 to join the German football league system Bundesliga for Hannover 96. He is 
playing against older men in soccer regularly and has played well by earning a promotion from the club’s U-19 team to its U-23 side at the age of 18. As a young black talent, Gloster has an opportunity to become one of the faces of American soccer, which struggles to recruit great black soccer talent after middle school.
While it is safe to say that Chris Gloster knew that there would be several challenges to being a teenager playing professional soccer in Europe, he faced a situation that would be difficult for anyone to face regardless of age or experience. He was the victim of racism during a soccer match about a week ago by VfB Lubeck supporters in Germany. His soccer club, Hannover 96, said that he was “subjected to monkey chants and other verbal abuse by members of the 200 travelling Lubeck supporters”. He was also allegedly called a “monkey” and the club reported that he sat in the dressing room with tears in his eyes in disbelief over how he was treated.
Not surprisingly, Chris Gloster isn’t the only black soccer player to receive racist abuse by fans internationally. Black soccer player Danny Rose, who is from the United Kingdom, was the victim of monkey chants while playing against Montenegro and Moise Kean, who is a Black Italian, has also faced a similar situation earlier this year. Racism in international soccer has gotten so bad that there have been multiple ads and commercials to remind soccer fans not to bring racism to the stadium. Soccer players have responded to the racism received by many black players by voicing their displeasure publicly and going on a social media boycott that has just recently started.
It is sad that the next Cobi Jones or Jozy Altidore might not materialize because of the ridiculous amount of racism that black soccer players face overseas. It is certainly a deterrent for young black athletes to continue to play a sport that so many play at a very young age and abandon to play other sports like basketball and American football. Hopefully, young people like Chris Gloster can feel comfortable knowing they will not face dehumanizing actions while they play the sport they love.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
