Thursday 19 September 2019 23:22, UK
Watford defender Christian Kabasele believes football authorities need to issue harsher racism punishments and says he has been a victim of racist abuse in the past.
This season has seen a variety of racism-related incidents already, both online and in stadiums around Europe.
Premier League stars Tammy Abraham, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford have all been victims of racist abuse on Twitter following mistakes in games, whilst Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku was subjected to monkey chants during a game against Cagliari.
Kabasele has played with Lukaku for Belgium in the past and thinks there should be stronger punishments issued after Cagliari received no action from the Italian Football Federation.
Kabasele said: "I think there is a lack of understanding and respect of the other. When you saw what the fans of Inter said about this they just don't get it.
"For them, it's just a way to make the opponent lose their head but it's not right, it's not the right thing to do. It's a serious thing to do making monkey chants in a stadium and it is nothing about making the opponent losing their head.
"We need to take this problem very seriously and it's up to the federation to find the right punishment. It's as simple as that."
The 28-year-old who has previously played for Eupen, Genk and Ludogorets also revealed he has been subjected to racist abuse in all three European countries he has played club football in.
Asked if he has been racially abused, he said: "Here in England on social media. In Belgium and in Bulgaria on the pitch, so it's not easy. Every time you try to keep your head and try not to overreact but it's not easy.
"Being treated as an animal it's very hurting and until the federations think of the right punishment we will still have this kind of problem.
"It's horrible. In the first moment you feel really bad and the only thing as a player you can do is try and report as much as possible when this kind of thing happens.
"Unfortunately for the moment the punishment is not so high so we need to take a step in this direction to try and get some stronger punishment."
