El Hadji Diouf claims Steven Gerrard is racist

Steven Gerrard is likely to take legal action against his former team-mate El Hadji Diouf after the Senegalese striker accused him of being racist, reports the Telegraph.

Diouf based his allegations on Gerrard’s treatment of Mario Balotelli during his last season at Liverpool before joining LA Galaxy in the summer.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Gerrard, 35, may seek redress for the slur through the libel courts. I warned him. Liverpool isn’t a team that accepts black people unless they are English.

He said, “It’s common knowledge”.

Since the comments have been made, another black ex-Liverpool star, Ryan Babel, has backed Gerrard, taking to Twitter to voice his opinion. Every time I passed him, he never dared to look me in the eye.

Diouf has never been a stranger to controversy.

He continued: “Gerrard is just jealous”. He hasn’t achieved what I have done in football.

Quotes about former bosses Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers are argumentative and spicy and best, and with Liverpool in such turmoil, it’s the last thing we really need from our former captain.

“Several big players do not belong”.

Diouf spent three years at Liverpool after impressing for Senegal at the 2002 World Cup finals.

“Diouf had sealed his place at the top of the list of Liverpool signings I liked least”.

In the wake of Diouf’s criticism, “Gerrard’s lawyers have moved to deny any claims he is racist”, according to Tom Sheen and Mark Critchley of the Independent.

Gerrrard slammed Diouf professionalism in his autobiography saying he was an example of everything gone wrong.

“A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli – and I’ve always said no. I’ve got respect for Balotelli; I’ve got none for Diouf”.