“Calling a spade a spade”: Ivory Coast manager accuses former World Cup winning United star of racism

Former Manchester United star Bastian Schweinsteiger has become embroiled in some World Cup controversy. United career The midfielder was one of the top talents of his generation and won numerous titles at Bayern Munich. He played a total of 500 matches for the Bavarians and scored 68 goals. Schweinsteiger moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2015 and spent a season and a half at the club before leaving under Jose Mourinho. He did manage to pick up an FA Cup winner’s medal in 2016 though. He played just 35 times for the club, scoring two goals before leaving for Chicago Fire in 2017. The midfield general’s biggest achievement was likely winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014. Controversy in this World Cup The former Manchester United man has been working as a pundit on the ongoing World Cup in North America, but his comments on African football have irked the Ivory Coast manager, Emerse Fae. In comments carried by the New York Times, whilst working for German broadcaster ARD, Schweinsteiger assessed, “African football … (is) a bit wild, a bit unorthodox and perhaps not so conditioned by tactics.” In comments carried by the BBC, the Ivory Coast manager hit back at the German. The Ivorians narrowly lost 2-1 to Germany in the group stage but qualified on six points alongside the Germans after matchday three. Speaking after his side’s 2-0 win over Curacao, he claimed, “I think it’s sad.” Elaborating further, he praised Schweinsteiger as a player but was left very disappointed in him as a man after his comments. Fae explained, “it is odd he would speak that way. We could call it racist, if we were calling a spade a spade. I don’t agree with him, but I have no other solution other than to work with things as they are. All I can show is that on the pitch African teams are not just physical, we are technical and tactical.” He added, “I can only hope it is a clumsy statement, rather than something going on in his mind. If that’s what he thinks, he is free to do so.” The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.