Suspension for Jestrovic after racist pronouncement (Dutch)

by Linde D´Haeseleer, a second-year journalism student at Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen in Kortrijk, Belgium 9/1/2006

Nenad Jestrovic, a player from the Belgian football team RSC Anderlecht, has been suspended by UEFA for three games. Jestrovic was found to have used racist insults against Liverpool and Mali player Momo Sissoko.

Jestrovic gave a UEFA hearing an explanation of what happened when Liverpool FC played RSC Anderlecht in a UEFA Champions League match on November 1 2005. He said that Sissoko first insulted him and then he insulted him back. The referee had heard Jestrovic say "f**k you, black," but Jestrovic denied it. He said that he did insult him, but he hadn’t made any racist remarks.

The referee had given Jestrovic a red card and sent him off the football field.

The day after the match RSC Anderlecht gave Jestrovic a financial punishment for his racist outburst. The sanction from UEFA followed on November 7, when Jestrovic was suspended for three days during UEFA games. Jestrovic says he believes that the Control and Disciplinary Commission of UEFA kept in mind that Sissoko had insulted him first.

Jestrovic can’t play in RSC Anderlecht matches against Chelsea and Real Betis. He says intends to take revenge while playing football, not with words, when he can play again, because he believes he did nothing wrong.

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