Ex-BVB talent Samuel Bamba racially abused on Dutch debut | OneFootball

For eleven years, Samuel Bamba wore the black and yellow jersey. From 2013 to 2024, the now 21-year-old went through all the youth teams of Borussia Dortmund. The striker transferred to VfL Bochum last year but did not fare as well as hoped with the local rivals. A loan move to the Netherlands to Willem II was meant to be something of a fresh start.

On Saturday, Bamba debuted for the second division team. In the Keuken Kampioen Divisie match, the Tilburg team faced SC Cambuur from Leeuwarden. Sportingly, it was quite satisfactory for the former BVB talent, who won the German A-Junior Championship with the Black and Yellows in 2022 under the leadership of Mike Tullberg (39). The offensive player was part of the starting eleven and was on the field for 75 minutes. With a 2-2 draw, his team took away a point.

However, Bamba's debut was overshadowed by vile racist insults from the home fans. "After my substitution in the 75th minute, I had to hear shouts like 'hu hu hu hu' from the Cambuur fans," the native of Ahlen shared in a story on Instagram. He was "disappointed and angry" that he had to talk about something like this after his "very first match for Willem II," the 21-year-old wrote. "We are all human beings – the referee, the fans, us players, or the coach – we are all human beings."

"Go to the zoo instead of the stadium"

The Dutch branch of the US sports broadcaster ESPN reported that Cambuur striker Tony Rölke (22) went with Bamba to the fans to talk to them about it. Some supporters apologized, but others remained unrepentant. The former Borussia player found strong words: "If you want to talk to monkeys, maybe you should go to the zoo instead of the stadium."

Bamba, who has played 13 junior international matches for Germany, wanted to focus on football matters in the Netherlands. The past season in Bochum was highly unsatisfactory for him, with only six short appearances. But now the youngster has to deal with other problems.

What consequences the racist remarks will have for SC Cambuur is not yet known.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.