Racism row: Samuel Eto'o dropped by Club over his Instagram post about not being respected 'because he's black'

Cameroon football star and former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o has been dropped by his club, Antalyaspor, after he claimed on social media that people didn't respect him because of his skin colour. According to AFP, the Turkish top flight said that Eto’o would be left out of the squad until further notice in a bitter row over comments on social media.

Two days ago, the football star, who moved to Antalyaspor in June 2015 posted a screenshot image of his achievement, all the cups he has won, along with a caption written in Turkish:

"Reminder – perhaps some people do not feel respect for me because I am black. But I am not going to come down from the level I have reached. I have been in this game for 18 years,"

The 35-year-old did not specify to whom he was targeting his criticism but later posted another message insisting it was not directed at Antalyaspor Chairman Ali Safak Öztürk. But Antalyaspor said in a terse statement on its website that a meeting of its board had decided to leave Eto’o out of the squad until further notice.

Turkish commentators had interpreted the remarks of Eto’o as a response to apparent criticism by Öztürk of his performance in the early season. The three-time Champions League winner has failed to lead his side to any kind of success with just one point from four matches