A shareholder group of Spanish club Espanyol de Barcelona organised an public discussion on discrimination in football last Wednesday (October 23) as part of the Fare action weeks.

Former goalkeeper Tomas N'Kono, sometimes known as the greatest goalkeeper Africa has produced, gave an insight into the racial abuse he experienced from both players and fans during his career and how he dealt with it. N'Kono has previously highlighted the hypocrisy which sees people who racially abuse players ask for their autographs when they see them on the street.

He was joined by Pedro Tomas, former President of the club, who is also Chairman of the UEFA Disciplinary Appeals Committee, female referee Anna Toneu and sports journalist Mari Carmen Juárez who moderated the debate.

The debate also looked at issues of gender based discrimination and development of women's football.

Cameroonian Tomas N'Kono spent a decade at Espanyol appearing in more than 300 official games and played in three world cups (1982, 1990, and 1994).

The Association of Small and Medium Shareholders (APMAE) of Espanyol were motivated to respond to recent incidents in European football, Ferran Marín President of APMAE said,

“APMAE as an association of Espanyol shareholders considers that our club should be on the forefront of the fight against racism and discrimination. Today was an important day to reflect on how we should deal with discrimination and equality inside our club and in football in general”