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Nadal’s hunt for a record 21st major title ended in five sets against the Greek fifth seed, who came back from two sets down to win 3-6 2-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 7-5 in four hours and five minutes in the quarter-finals.

The 34-year-old was playing his first tournament of the year after back tightness — following a stint in Australian quarantine — kept him out of the ATP Cup team competition.

It was a memorable tournament for the left-hander, who was given the finger by an angry fan in an earlier match.

But he refused to blame the unusual build-up to the coronavirus-disrupted Grand Slam for his surprise defeat.

“We can find excuses or reasons, or maybe this quarantine that we need to be more time in the room than usual,” he said.

“But I’m not the guy that’s going to find excuses on that or going to complain about what happened, no.

“Just accept. I never considered myself an unlucky person at all. Doesn’t matter the injuries that I had. I think I am a very lucky person.

“The only thing that I can do is just keep going. I put myself in a position, even with the challenges that I faced, to be in the quarterfinals, two sets up, close to being in the semi-finals. So a chance lost? Yes. But life continues. I hope to keep having chances and I’m going to keep fighting for it.”

NADAL REJECTS DJOKER’S COMPLAINTS

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev both hit out at quarantine after their quarter-final on Tuesday, blaming it for a rash of early-season injuries.

“What we are seeing is not normal. It’s not something we are used to,” Djokovic said.

“Top players are the ones that are fittest. It has been proven in the past that that’s the case. Now you have Berrettini, even Rafa coming in with a back injury, myself, Sascha, as well, struggled, Dimitrov.

“I mean, obviously it has something to do with these kind of circumstances that we were in.”

“Talking to a lot of players, majority of the players just don’t want to go ahead with the season if we are going to have to quarantine most of the tournaments,” he warned.

“So this is something that should be discussed, like as of now.”

But Nadal dismissed talk of halting the tour, or playing it in a series of “bubbles” to avoid further stints in quarantine, as suggested by Djokovic.

“There are two options: stop the tour or keep going,” he said. “It’s tough for the players, of course … but on the other hand, if we stop the tour, why and how and when we will be able to come back? And a lot of jobs gonna suffer a lot.”

Nadal added: “We need to think a little bit bigger … we need to find solutions and we need to adapt to this very tough times that we are facing.”

It comes after Nadal offered some pointed comments about playing with injury and his uncle Toni took a shot at Novak Djokovic.

It was just the second time Nadal had lost when two sets up in a Grand Slam, having previously fallen to Fabio Fognini in the third round of the 2015 US Open.

Nadal, 34, remains tied with Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slam titles, but Djokovic can pull within two if he wins his 18th major trophy this week.

Nadal was hoping to end a 12-year drought at the Australian Open, the only Slam he has not won multiple times.

TSITSIPAS: ‘IT’S EVERYTHING I DREAMED OF’

Tsitsipas, the fifth seed, turned the match on its head after snatching the tie-break in the third set and clinched the memorable victory with a backhand down the line.

Known as occasionally a hot-headed player, the 22-year-old has made a conscious effort to take a calmer approach, which paid dividends when he was on the brink of elimination against a rampant Nadal.

“I wasn’t thinking about a lot of things,” said Tsitsipas, who hit 49 winners and 17 aces in his second win in eight meetings with Nadal.

“How would I describe myself? Nirvana. Just was there … playing, not thinking.”

He added: “I woke up today and I felt really relaxed. I felt things would go my way.

“I was very serene during the match. Maybe the absence of a crowd kept me like this.”

Tsitsipas said celebrating with his father Apostolos and his coaching team, among the few people at Rod Laver Arena during a statewide coronavirus lockdown, was a “special moment”.

“The way I was able to come back, the way I did, and how I fought against Rafa, was something I’ve never felt before,” he said.

“To be able to hug my team and share that moment of appreciation was epic. It’s everything I ever dreamt of.”

Tsitsipas will now attempt to reach a maiden Grand Slam final when he plays the in-form Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final.

“He’s playing very well and is in good shape. I know he is going to give me a difficult time on the court,” said Tsitsipas, who has a 1-5 record against the Russian.

“He’s someone that I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press.”

“I don’t feel completely exhausted. With experience I have realised how to preserve my energy,” he added, after his second five-set match of the tournament.

Djokovic will play the other semi-final against Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev.

– AFP

The former tennis ace, 37, has pleaded for people to leave her alone after she — like many people — put some weight on during Melbourne’s lockdown.

Dokic shared a side by side image of her appearance pre and post-COVID to Instagram and added a lengthy caption telling trolls to “GET OVER IT”.

“I am sharing this with you all because even though I have the best supporters in the world that send me thousands of messages of support, I have also received a few comments body shaming me and seen an article in the media about my weight and physical appearance,” Dokic wrote.

“I have always been honest with you all about my struggles and my weight battles. I have talked about my weight and not a lot of people have done that publicly.

“Now I am also going to be honest but I also feel like I need to address the negative attention around what people think I should look like.

“And here is my message to you, GET OVER IT.

“Leave me and my physical appearance alone. I really don’t know why people and the media have the need to comment on someone’s physical appearance, especially when it comes to women. You would never talk like that about a man, it’s always about women and their appearance.

“While I am nowhere near my heaviest, I am also completely honest about the fact that I have put some weight back on in the Melbourne lockdown. It was very hard mentally for me in the world’s toughest lockdown for six months and not being able to see my loved ones for 15 months.

“I have even had some depression and anxiety creep back up and it’s been a battle.

“To all the body-shamers, online trolls and the media that have body shamed me, you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

“How about a bit of kindness? How about a message asking me how I am doing? Instead of talking about my weight, why don’t you talk about all my accomplishments? Does my weight determine my worth?

“It’s so easy to judge others but why can’t people just be kind? We should be talking about inner beauty and not the shallow outside looks.

“Also, I could be pregnant or going thru something. You never know what battle someone is fighting.

“Put yourself in the person your insulting’s shoes and what they might be going thru. Imagine if it was your mother, sister or daughter being insulted.

“In saying that, I will continue to work hard on my fitness and my health because I want to feel better and fitter. Love you all.”

Dokic underwent an incredible physical transformation in late 2018 and early 2019, losing 38kg after reaching 120kg at her heaviest.

After being afraid to leave the house and turning down work opportunities because of her insecurity, she began a new chapter and shared it publicly in the hope of helping others.

“I thought I would brave the judgment, negativity and scrutiny that sometimes comes with being in the public eye and on social media and put myself and my struggles out there and hopefully inspire, motivate and help others, especially women,” she wrote at the time.

Dokic revealed in 2017 she had “suicidal thoughts” after being abused by her dad as a child.

The 2000 Wimbledon semi-finalist lifted the lid on her early years in her autobiography Unbreakable, where she claimed her father would whip her with a belt if she failed on court.

She said her 2014 retirement left her feeling “lost” and saw her weight blow out on the back of emotional eating and a lack of structure when she left tennis.

“I was thrown into retirement not knowing what direction I wanted to go in,” Dokic said.

“I wasn’t prepared — that’s where my weight gain started.

“When you’re a professional athlete, you’re in this bubble that’s not reality — everything is done for you … training, food, travel, management, so going back into real life was very different.”

The release of her autobiography, where Dokic revealed the trauma she suffered at the hands of her father and her subsequent battles with depression, proved to be a cathartic experience and was a catalyst for her getting on top of her weight.

She is now happily engaged to long-time partner Tin Bikic and planning to get married and start a family.

“Marriage is on the list,” she told nowtolove.com.au this week.

“And while we’re not planning on having kids right now, it’s one of the things that is very important.”

“I want to raise my children very differently from how I was raised,” she added. “Having a family is definitely in the future.”

In a boat parade in lieu of the regular parade to celebrate Tampa Bay’s second Super Bowl win, Brady was getting loose after claiming another championship ring.

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He had to be assisted off his boat on wobbly legs after partaking in the celebration a bit too vigorously.

But it also caused some controversy.

Lorraine Grohs, the daughter of silversmith Greg Grohs, who crafted the original Lombardi Trophy given to the NFL champions, wants an apology from Brady for him tossing this year’s version “as if it was a real football” to tight end Cameron Brate during the team’s championship boat parade last week.

The tossing around of the Lombardi Trophy by the 43-year-old Brady, seen in a video that went viral online, wasn’t a laughing matter to Grohs, who lives in Fort Myers, Florida. Her father was a master silversmith from 1967-1994 at Tiffany and Company, which is tasked with making the trophy.

“A lot of hard work, a lot of hours go into it,” she told Fox 4. “It just really upset me that this trophy was disgraced and disrespected by being thrown as if it was a real football.

“I didn’t sleep for the past two nights because of this. I was that upset, because I know the passion that goes into this trophy, and how my dad and all of his fellow silversmiths are so proud to make this.

“I’d personally like an apology, not just to me and my family and the other silversmiths, but to the fans.”

But Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht had enough of the drama, responding to a tweet with a GIF of Warren Oates as Sgt. Hulka in the movie Stripes saying “Lighten up Francis.”

Brady led the Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the defending champion Kanas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 2021 to win his seventh Lombardi Trophy.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.

Cornwall took 4/105 while Kraigg Brathwaite (3/25) and Jomel Warrican (3/47) grabbed the remaining wickets as Bangladesh was bowled out for 213 on the fourth day.

Mehidy Hasan hit two sixes and three fours late in the day to add drama after the hosts lost their ninth wicket but the West Indies kept their cool to deny them a come-from-behind win.

The tourists, missing most of their top stars who feared travelling during the coronavirus pandemic, jumped with joy after Cornwall took a catch at slip off Warrican to dismiss Mehidy for 31 and end the innings.

Set a target of 231 runs, opener Tamim Iqbal hit a quickfire 50 and put on 59 with Soumya Sarkar (13).

Brathwaite removed both openers before Cornwall and Warrican put the West Indies in control.

“I would say this is a team effort. The one-day team didn’t do well. But we had some plans and came on top,” said Brathwaite.

The West Indies had lost the ODI series 3-0.

“Coming over here with all the protocols in place, it is huge,” he added. “Very thankful for this opportunity. I’m very proud of the boys. It means everything back home.”

Brathwaite broke through off his first delivery as Soumya departed with an edge ricocheting off the gloves of wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva before flying to Cornwall at slip.

Tamim raced to a fifty off 43 balls — including nine fours — before giving Shayne Moseley a catch at short cover.

Warrican claimed Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque (26) and Mushfiqur Rahim (14), while Cornwall got rid of Mohammad Mithun (10) and Liton Das (22).

“When you lose, it is always disappointing,” said Mominul.

“When Tamim was batting, we thought we will easily win it. But we lost wickets in the middle period and then Mehidy tried hard but fell short.”

The West Indies smelled a win once Cornwall dismissed Taijul for nine. Mehidy and Nayeem Hasan defiantly put on 25 for the ninth wicket, reviving home hopes.

But Brathwaite removed Nayeem (14) in the final over of scheduled play, forcing an extension.

Taijul earlier finished on 4-36 while Nayeem took 3-34 as Bangladesh bowled out the West Indies for 117 in their second innings.

Bangladesh took seven wickets for 76 runs in little over a session on the fourth day after the tourists resumed on 41-3.

Cornwall won the man of the match award for his nine wickets while Nkrumah Bonner was named player of the series.

The West Indies won the first Test by three wickets.

– AFP

The Wasps flanker, 24, came off the bench to score a try almost immediately — before his day turned into a nightmare.

Just minutes later he suffered a knee injury so graphic broadcasters ITV refused to show the replay, The Sun reports.

Even uglier, his screams of pain could be heard around the empty Twickenham stadium.

Prop Genge was one of the first to cotton on to the nasty injury, as he put his hands on his head in a mixture of disbelief and devastation.

Maro Itoje, too, pleaded with players to give Willis space as he tried to point out the sickening knock.

Willis was eventually taken off on a stretcher.

After the game, England’s Australian coach Eddie Jones said: “We are all concerned, he is on crutches and will be examined on Sunday.

“It didn’t look good, and it is probably not good, but we will wait and see.

“It’s some sort of knee injury, but he’s back in the dressing room with us.”

England legend Matt Dawson predicted Willis is set for a “long lay-off” after the horror injury.

Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live: “On the clear-out Jack Willis has got his leg jammed.

“No-one likes to see that, especially someone like Dan Lydiate who has been fighting back after a long injury.

“Straight away you thought he was in trouble. His left knee – it buckled underneath him.

“That, unfortunately, is going to be a long lay-off for Jack Willis.”

Willis is almost certain to miss the rest of this Six Nations.

Jones will now be forced to make do without him for crunch games against Wales, France and Ireland having gone on to win 41-18 against Italy.

— This story originally appeared in thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission

It was already a strange sight to see Djokovic struggling on Rod Laver Arena — but at 11.30pm fans were booted from the venue as part of Tennis Australia’s compliance with the five-day Victorian lockdown which began at 11.59pm (AEDT) on Friday night.

The lockdown announcement triggered a day of chaos at Melbourne Park with anti-lockdown protesters flooding the venue to take a stand against metropolitan Melbourne’s third hard lockdown.

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The crowds have been vocal at the Australian Open throughout the first week of the tournament but the COVID cluster linked to the Victorian hotel quarantine system has seen the city locked up again.

As part of the lockdown, spectators have been locked out of the tennis for at least the next five days.

Under the restrictions announced Friday public gatherings are not permitted.

The bizarre scenes were triggered as Djokovic was being pushed to breaking point by Fritz after he had earlier taken a medical time out to be treated on a side strain.

With the world No. 1 struggling to move around the court and Fritz rolling with all the momentum, the 11.30 deadline ticked over with the epic battle very much in the balance and a potential boil over looming.

Fritz took the third set 6-3 and had broken Djokovic before play was suspended while the fans were escorted out of the venue.

There was a loud chorus of boos when the chair umpire announced that all non-essential personnel must leave the arena with the fourth set at 3-2.

Those fans missed the moment Fritz served out the fourth set to send it to a decider.

In an epic fifth set that was played out in the eerie, cavernous silence of Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic showed his champion fighting spirit to weather the storm and eventually emerge with a 7-6 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2 victory after 3.5 hours on court.

The clock had ticked over to 12.20am when he sealed the win. He roared a deep, guttural scream that sounded truly bizarre inside the deserted stadium.

He let his emotions show after surviving the scare which had left his hunt for a record ninth Australian Open crown hanging by a thread.

He said he understood why the match had to be stopped to kick the spectators out.

“With the bad news today that we got, everybody knew that midnight is going to be the deadline where we go into lockdown for five days so in a way it’s unfortunate for the crowd that we didn’t finish the match with them seeing the end,” he said.

“They were enjoying it certainly.”

RELATED: Nick Kyrgios melts down at Australian Open

Earlier, the players were also asked to leave the court as fans vented their frustrations about being kicked out of the stadium.

Confusion had been sewn as a rumour began circulating on social media that the fans in the stadium would be allowed to stay with their tickets the exemption to stay out beyond 11.30pm.

It was quickly proven untrue.

It came at a fascinating point of the game after Djokovic ran out to a two sets to love lead but a slip saw the No. 1 seed do the splits and require medical attention.

The Australian Open released a statement on Friday afternoon saying: “Tennis Australia continues to work with the government to ensure the healthy and safety of everyone.

“We are notifying ticketholders, players and staff that there will be no fans onsite at the AO for five days, commencing from Saturday 13 February.

“Full refunds will be available for anyone who has tickets for these sessions and they will be advised on how to apply as soon as possible.”

The Spaniard beat the American qualifier in straight sets 6-1 6-4 6-2 on a bumper day of play in Melbourne but it was a spectator who generated all the headlines on Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal cruised through the first set and was up a break in the second, preparing to serve at 5-4 when a disturbance in the stands prevented him from going through with his routine.

A shocked Nadal looked up to see what the problem was, and found a female spectator yelling out and trying to put him off his game. He didn’t know how to react at first, then found the situation funny, cracking a smile.

The woman flipped Nadal the bird then very next point, again yelled out just before he was ready to serve.

“Hurry up, you OCD f***,” she reportedly said.

The crowd was booing and security came to boot the woman out, but Nadal — who has a famously meticulous routine — was able to see the funny side and kept on laughing.

There was plenty of speculation on social media the woman may enjoyed a few beverages before the match, giving her some liquid courage to go through with her brazen stunt.

“No,” Nadal laughed after the match when asked if he knew the woman, who was sitting in front of a Spanish flag. “And honestly I don’t want to know.”

“Somebody doing the finger to me… I was surprised, yes, but at the same time I was thinking, ‘poor girl’, because probably she was drunk or something,” he added.

“Maybe she take too much gin or tequila. I don’t know. But honestly was strange situation, but, yeah, funny at the same time.”

The world No. 2 has been struggling with tightness in his lower back since arriving in Australia last month, but showed few signs of it with the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena.

He will next play Britain’s Cameron Norrie in his quest for a 21st grand slam title.

“I always try to be better, sometimes it happens and sometimes not. Tonight has been a positive evening for me, winning in straight sets,” he said.

“For me, I am now just focusing on what is coming because that is going to be more difficult.”

The writing was on the wall, with Nadal enjoying a perfect record against qualifiers at the Australian Open, where he has reached the round of 32 every time he has played, barring his shock first round exit in 2016.

Nadal sent Serb Laslo Djere packing with little drama in the opening round and it was a similar story with Mmoh, whose father Tony twice played at the Australian Open.

After getting his measure in the first few games, Nadal pounced to break in the fourth and never looked back, racing through the set in 27 minutes.

While serving big, the American lacked accuracy and was mercilessly punished by a player ranked 175 places above him.

The 2009 champion, who has a history of back problems, is bidding to win his 21st major title and claim sole ownership of the men’s major record, which he currently shares with Roger Federer.

But the king of clay has often laboured in vain on Melbourne’s hardcourts, reaching five finals but only having the one title, falling in the quarter-finals last year to Dominic Thiem.

With AFP

With Tiafoe working his way back into the first set but facing a break point, Djokovic stretched out to a forehand before hitting a crisp passing shot to break serve before letting out a roar directed at two fans.

He then appeared to gesture at them to come down onto the court and face him.

“There happen to be two people right beneath our comms box that are barking loudly for Tiafoe and Novak came at them specifically after that point,” Channel Nine commentator Jim Courier explained.

“That was directed at two guys down here that might be enjoying a tasty adult beverage or two. One of them is wearing a Shane Warne jersey.”

Djokovic consolidated the break to take the first set 6-3, but Tiafoe looked up for the challenge as he forced the world No.1 into a tiebreak and pulled through to level the match at one set apiece.

As he sat down at the change of ends, Tiafoe yelled to his box “I love this s**t! I love it!”.

But the American was left furious in the fourth set, when he was down two sets to one, as he was called for a time violation serving at 30-30 and 3-3.

He complained to the chair umpire and lost the next two points, giving up a crucial break.

“Why are you disturbing the match?” he asked the umpire.

“It’s an unreal match! Why are you disturbing the match? It’s bulls***! The point’s massive and I’m going for the f***ing towel!’

Collingwood executives were forced to front the media after an internal club investigation concluded the club was guilty of fostering “systemic racism” that “has resulted in profound and enduring harm to First Nations and African players”.

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But despite the report’s findings, McGuire failed to say the word “sorry” once in a press conference that lasted more than an hour.

Instead, the 56-year-old said it was a “historic and proud day” for Collingwood, as he touted the club’s efforts in fighting for racial equality.

What followed was a tsunami of outrage from the football community, many calling for McGuire to stand down immediately from his position.

And on Tuesday afternoon, McGuire resigned in an emotional press conference at the Holden Centre.

Addressing reporters, McGuire confessed to a decision which potentially served as the final nail in his coffin.

“I committed to continuing my presidency until the end of this season. However, I don’t think it’s either fair or tenable for the club or the community,” McGuire said.

“People have latched onto my opening line last week, and as a result, I have become a lightning rod for vitriol, but worse placed the club in a position where it’s hard to move forward with the implementation of our plans with clear air.”

After the “Do Better” report was leaked, Collingwood released a statement on their website in which McGuire apologised for not doing enough to eradicate racism in the sport.

“The board of the Collingwood Football club commissioned the CFC DO BETTER REPORT for the right reasons. We can learn from our past,” McGuire’s statement read.

“Collingwood is, and will continue to be, a wonderful club but this should not stop us from striving to be better.

“The CFC DO BETTER REPORT is an acknowledgment that our club, our game and our country have got things wrong. For our part, we have always sought to do our best but looking back we now know that wasn’t always good enough. For that, we are sorry and pledge to do better.”

There are the words people wanted to hear in last week’s infamous press conference, but for whatever reason, McGuire chose not to speak them — an error he rectified on Tuesday afternoon.

“The report does make the point there had been systemic problems, which the authors explain mean problems with our processes, that saw our club react to incidents,” he said.

“That is why, in the first paragraph of my written statement last Monday — which I didn’t read out in my spoken comments but I’ll say again — in the first paragraph of the written statement handed out and online,” he added, before reading the statement in full.

Had McGuire opened proceedings last week by acknowledging Collingwood’s failings and saying sorry, rather than declaring it was a “historic and proud” day for the club, perhaps the public outrage would not have been quite as severe.

Sadly, it was a matter of too little, too late. The damage had already been done, and McGuire’s fate had been sealed.

“I try my best and I don’t always get it right, and I don’t stop trying,” McGuire said on Tuesday as he fought back tears during an emotional exit.

“From the moment I became the President of the Collingwood Football Club on my 34th birthday back in 1998, my sole motivation was to heal, unite, inspire and drive a new social conscience, not just into this club, but sport and the community in general and build an organisation that would be a place for opportunity for all people.”

McGuire has been at the helm of Collingwood since 1998 and has long been one of the most influential powerbrokers in the AFL.

While the club has soared to new heights under his stewardship, his career has been marked by many controversies, including suggesting in 2013 Indigenous footy icon Adam Goodes should promote the King Kong musical.

He has survived all of those public stuff-ups but could not survive the explosive Do Better report — which saw an open letter signed by Indigenous leaders demanding his resignation.

Last week, there were calls for Aly to apologise for the interview with Lumumba in 2017 after a bombshell report found Collingwood guilty of fostering “systemic racism”.

The report was instigated after Lumumba made damning claims about enduring a “culture of racist jokes” and being nicknamed “Chimp” while playing for the Magpies.

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Aly interviewed Lumumba for an episode of the popular Channel 10 show, during which the defender’s alleged nickname was discussed.

The Project panellist Peter Helliar questioned the authenticity of Lumumba’s allegations, saying at the time “it would be really helpful if we heard more detail, especially with the nickname”.

The comedian also claimed Lumumba risked “smearing an entire club” if his story could not be verified.

Helliar apologised on Twitter, but there were also questions over whether Aly should follow suit for the scepticism with which he treated some of the footy star’s allegations.

But instead, the clip has mysteriously been taken off Channel 10’s social media platforms, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Speaking on ABC’s Offsiders, veteran cricket journalist Gideon Haigh led the criticism of journalists who questioned Lumumba’s allegations.

“Was it ever seriously so difficult to believe Lumumba?” Haigh asked on Sunday morning.

“It seems to me the journalists bought readily into the club’s campaign to discredit him because of their need for access, because of their general conformity and frankly their whiteness.”

Former Collingwood players Brent Macaffer, Leon David, Chris Dawes and Andrew Krakouer have all said they heard the nickname “Chimp”.

However, former teammate Simon Buckley, who is Indigenous, responded to the Collingwood report by launching a scathing attack on Lumumba on Facebook.

“He made the nickname up for himself,” Buckley posted in the since-deleted exchange.

“He was all for it when he was winning flags and playing well. He would refer to himself as chimp. He all of a sudden 10 years later wants to be a humanitarian.

“He never complained when he was winning flags and getting a kick himself and calling himself that name. Now all of a sudden he’s out of the media and wants to be back in the limelight and get a few bucks. Weak as p**s.

“If he wanted to preach about racism, he shoulda called it out at the time and not run with it and calling himself that for a laugh.”

READ MORE: Eddie’s allies turning against him

Lumumba later hit back at Buckley’s accusations, claiming the nickname “began in 2005, during the pre-season and, no, I did not make it up myself”.

“Despite the nickname being overtly racist, unfortunately, it was not the worst facet of the interpersonal racism that I encountered during my 10 years at CFC. Within two months of me being at the club, I had already been exposed to a culture where racist ideas, in the form of jokes, stereotypes and direct abuse, was prevalent,” he posted.

Lumumba also reiterated that at the time, he was “a young man of 23-24 years of age, and had yet to understand the dangerous implications of the racism that was allowed to proliferate within the club’s culture”.