Chinese basketball fans were recorded on camera yelling racial slurs at Black American basketball player Sonny Weems.
This past Monday, a video of Chinese fans racially abusing Black American basketball player Sonny Weems went viral after it was posted online. In the video, all you can hear is “n***er, n***er, n***er,” coming from the mouths of people standing on the side of a street as Weems walks down from his sprinter bus. At one point, someone also tells Weems “f*ck you” and to “get out of China.” Weems, 35, plays for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
The racial abuse happened after the Tigers played against the Liaoning Flying Leopards last Thursday, CNN Sports reports. Weems and Chinese player Han Dejun got into a physical altercation during the game, which led to both of them being removed from it.
On Friday, the CBA released a statement saying it doesn’t condone the behavior whatsoever and that it has a “zero-tolerance attitude toward any discriminatory words or deeds.” The letter goes on to say: “Whether on or off the field, fans should watch the game in a civilized manner, respect each other, do not do anything that damages the reputation of the team.”
In their own statement, he Flying Leopards said fans’ words were shameful and hurt the league and team brand. “Respect for the opponent is a basic quality that every player should have, and it is also a basic requirement for a qualified fan,” wrote the team.
