Former Premier League player, Robbie Earle, has spoken passionately about the issue of racism in English football. Earle, who played nine seasons with Wimbledon in English football's top tier, is now an analyst on NBC's coverage of the Premier League.
It comes following the racist abuse which Raheem Sterling received at the weekend. The Times reported on Monday that Man City player confirmed he was the subject of abuse during his side's defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.
Sterling subsequently highlighted how newspapers have been culpable in fuelling racism in English football.
"I've talked to lots of players back in England, current and ex-players, the majority of them black players and there is a feeling that Raheem Sterling gets racist connotations, racist criticism based that wouldn't be the same if he was a white player," said Earle.
Raheem Sterling is one of those players who avoids the media when he can. He's felt at this stage that he has to put himself forward. He's 24-years-old and the maturity in his game on the field has brought a maturity off the field. What Raheem Sterling is saying at the moment is not for his own benefit, it's for the benefit of young black players.
When people on social media with tens of millions of followers are sort of saying, 'Well, what players in the past have got this' and are naming those players, it's at the very least irresponsible, if not fuelling the situation and fuelling the position we're in at the moment.
Earle believes English football has taken a backwards step in terms of how it deals with racism.
"Laughing things off, when you're inside and it's hurting, you do the wry smile as if, 'I have to accept that this is how it is.' That should never be the case. Raheem Sterling should never have to laugh off racist abuse. He's getting abuse about where he lives, how much money he earns, when he moves to another football club.
"I worked in the mid-90s with a number of prominent black and white players with organisations in English football to stamp out racism. We put education programmes in place and we went to schools. There was a movement to eradicate it from the game. 25 years on, people are saying, 'Is it a one-off incident?' One is one too many.
"The most difficult thing for me to say today is that I failed Raheem Sterling and I've failed the group coming behind him. That's the most difficult thing of all because we thought we had this nailed and we haven't. It's a cancer and cancers - unless you stay on top of them, unless you are vigilant - will come back. It's starting to creep back into English football."
You can watch Robbie Earle speaking on NBC below.
