Bamford Regrets Criticism Of Racism Is Not As Massive As European Super League Rejection

Patrick Bamford (Instagram @patrick_bamford)

JAKARTA - Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has admitted he does not support the European Super League, which creation was met by a wave of anger from football fans and authorities such as the FA and UEFA, but regrets that a similar response has not been seen when the sport is plagued by racism.

Bamford and his colleagues showed firsthand their rejection of the European Super League when they faced one of the founding teams of the midweek Champions League match, namely Liverpool.

Bamford and team wearing a shirt emblazoned with the Champions League logo with a message that reads "UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: EARN IT. FOOTBALL IS FOR THE FANS" during the warm-up ahead of the Premier League match which ended in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road, Monday local time (Tuesday western Indonesia time).

"I think, personally from what I have seen on Twitter and a lot of the news, not a single football fan has voiced happiness about this decision," Bamford told Sky Sports after the game.

"And I think football is ultimately about the fans, without the fans all the clubs are meaningless. So it is important for us to show our conviction that football is for the fans and we want that to stay alive," he added.

Despite voicing rejection of the European Super League and support for the supporters' reaction to the competition, Bamford regrets that the same level of response does not occur to other problems in football such as racism.

"It's incredible, what they say, I can't understand it," he said.

"So tremendous is the amount of anger that goes around this sport when someone's pocket is threatened, unfortunately, it doesn't apply to a lot of the issues around this sport, like racism," Bamford concluded.