Ireland international James McClean has slammed the English FA for failing to act on the “sickening” sectarian abuse he and his family have faced over the past eight years.
In a post on Instagram, the Wigan midfielder said he again suffered sectarian abuse during the club's match away at Sunderland on Sunday.
He posted a video recording of the crowd chanting abuse at him and noted that it was one of several sectarian chants aimed at him during the game.
“Everyone who attended the game would have heard this loud and clear including the referee, match officials and other officials,” he wrote.
“I should not have to report every single incident when clearly they can all hear what I hear and they should be doing their job by taking action.”
View this post on Instagram
The 33-year-old said he has no faith in the English FA, English Football League or Sunderland to take action over the abuse.
“Every single year we have an FA representative come into each club to discuss the same old crap they spew to us about discrimination,” he said.
“Every single year I challenge them on the abuse; every single year they do nothing.”
Abuse
McClean said it falls to his wife to explain to his seven-year-old child why crowds of people are abusing his father.
“For my son, who is seven years old and watches every Wigan game either being at the stadium or on Latics tv, to be asking his mother: “Why are they booing and singing that song at Daddy?” and to have to tiptoe around answering him is something which should not be happening,” he said.
“This post is not one of sympathy (trust me it’s not wanted) but one of anger.”
"Sickening"
The Ireland wing-back also hit out that those who say he “brings it on himself” – alluding to a controversial picture he posted in March 2020.
“This picture, which turned out to be not my best joke, occurred in 2020,” he said.
“Myself, as well as my family, have been on the end of sickening abuse since Nov 2012. For those you can’t grasp that that is eight years of sickening abuse prior.”
McClean played for Sunderland for two years before joining wigan for his first stint at the club in 2013.
