Canada Soccer speaks out after Davies, Huitema targeted by racists on social media

Canada Soccer has spoken out after Canadian national team stars Alphonso Davies and Jordyn Huitema were the subject of racism remarks on social media.

The pair are a couple away from the pitch. 

“Canada Soccer stands firm against racism and discrimination of any kind both in the game and within all of our communities around the world,” the Canadian governing body said in a social media post. “We are both disappointed and appalled with the hateful comments recently made to members of our national teams through social media.

“Share love not hate and work together for a better word. #NoToRacism.”

A photo of Davies, who is Black, and Huitema, who is white, on Instagram while enjoying a vacation in Spain drew more than 14,000 comments including some that were offensive. 

Many more decried the racist remarks.

National team coaches Bev Priestman and John Herdman also weighed in.

Canadian women’s coach Priestman said via social media that she was “absolutely disgusted” at the racist comments.

Herdman, coach of the men’s squad, added in a tweet: “We see the best in human nature from Alphonso/Jordyn, two kids I’ve worked with and then the worst with the moronic comments from the small minority of humans that will just never get it …”

Davies, 20, is a star fullback with Bayern Munich. Huitema, 19, is a forward with Paris Saint-Germain.

“We will never see good in the world if all we see is the colour of each other’s skin,” Huitema said in a subsequent post. “We are all part of one race, the human race.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2020

The Canadian Press