Two members of Duffry Rovers club in Wexford were last week suspended for eight weeks after the referee reported alleged racist comments directed at Sarsfield's Lee Chin in a recent club game. Chin is a member of the Wexford senior football panel and also plays under 21 hurling for the county.
Former Dublin star Jason Sherlock says he understand Chin's plight. Sherlock said: ''I have had to endure racial abuse over the years on the football field. My late father was from Hong Kong and I understand that I look different to most Irish people. When I was growing up, Ireland was not multi-cultural and I suffered a lot more racism when I was younger. But just three years ago, I was playing for my club St. Oliver Plunkett's and got racially abused by one of the opposition players.
"It is humiliating when it happens, as there is nothing you can do about how you look or your background. And it always leaves a mark. I think I can remember every time I was racially abused while playing Gaelic football," Sherlock said. "I have no problem with people slagging me over lots of things, but when you get into racial territory I don't think it's acceptable. Most people are a bit more clued-in nowadays, but what Lee Chin has had to put up with in Wexford shows we still have a road to travel.''
