5 times footballers had to deal with racism 

#2 Marco Zoro

Marco Zoro attempting to leave the pitch as Adriano tries to convince him to stay

Marco Zoro is not among the most popular names in the game. Indeed, you could be forgiven for not knowing his name until this point. However, when it comes to dealing with racism, Marco Zoro was among the first people to fight against it.

Against Inter in a home game, Zoro, playing for Messina, picked up the ball and started walking off the pitch after being the focus of monkey chants from a group of racist Inter supporters. In the end, he had to be persuaded by the members of both the teams to continue playing – and their insistence convinced him to stay on.

After the game, Zoro said:

"I was treated badly and can't have that. Away from home they can do what they want, I'm used to that, but not at my home ground.

"These are people who don't love this game, but they need to learn that we aren't animals and I want some respect.”