Nigerian Player Tolu Arokodare Becomes Victim Of Racism After Missing Penalty

Nigerian footballer, Tolu Arokodare was a victim of online bullying and racism after missing a penalty in Genk’s 3-0 home defeat to Club Brugge.

On Sunday, March 3, 2024, Club Brugge traveled to Cegeka Arena to take on Genk in the Belgian Pro League.

The visiting team scored the opening goal in the 26th minute and finished the humiliation in the second half with two goals.

Before the three goals, Tolu Arokodare had the chance to give the home side an early lead but he missed a penalty in the 18th minute.

Most football enthusiasts especially Genk’s fans believe that if the Nigerian-born footballer had scored the penalty, Genk would have won the game.

To make matters worse, the 3-0 win pushed Genk down to the 6th spot in the Belgian league with 43 points in 28 games. As for Club Brugge, they have moved to third place with 48 points in 28 games.

These changes in the league table infuriated Genk’s fans more forcing the fans to take to social media to use racial terms to drag Tolu Arokodare online.

Nigerian Paris-based sport journalist, Ojora Babatunde, wrote, “Genk #KRCGenkofficial forward, Tolu Arokodare #toluarokodare has been the victim of racial insults on social media by some Genk fans today for losing a penalty against Club Brugge #ClubBrugge in the early minutes of the game. This is unacceptable!!”

Note that Tolu Arokodare joined Genk in the 2023 summer transfer window as a replacement for fellow countryman Paul Onuachu. Since then, Arokodare has scored 13 goals in 50 games in all competitions.