Sikou Niakaté says he quit club football after taunts about penis size | OneFootball

Sikou Niakaté, 34, says he stopped playing club football after being mocked over the size of his penis.

In a first-person piece for L'Équipe, the filmmaker behind Dans le noir, les hommes pleurent reflects on imagined masculinity, particularly around football.

He recounts that after a match a friend exposed himself for a laugh and pressured him to do the same. When Niakaté complied, the friend looked, stifled a smile, then burst out laughing and ridiculed him for having a small penis.

Niakaté says he felt empty, walked behind with his head down and decided never to play in a club again. He adds that while some blame cruciate ligament injuries for lost careers, his undoing was, as he puts it, in his underwear.

He also addresses entrenched stereotypes, saying that as a Black man he believed normality should mean excess, and that simply fitting the French norm did not feel possible.

Source: Le Progres