El-Hadji Diouf Claims That Steven Gerrard Was Racist...Wait, What?

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard recently released his second autobiography entitled "My Story". In one section of the book, while defending Mario Balotelli, he calls out his former LFC teammate El-Hadji Diouf, saying the striker had no real interest in playing football.

An excerpt from the book:

"It seemed to me that Diouf had no real interest in football and that he cared nothing about Liverpool. For example, the way he spat a huge globule of gunky phlegm at a Celtic fan in a UEFA Cup match at Parkhead in March 2003 summed up his contemptuous and spiteful demeanour."

Unsurprisingly, Diouf has not taken kindly to this jab. He has come out in the Senegal media to respond to Gerrard's remarks by blatantly calling him a racist.

"It's common knowledge. Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was at Liverpool, I showed him I was black, that I wasn't English, but that I'm no pushover. All the time I was there, he never dared looked me in the eye."

-El-Hadji Diouf; Source: le10 Sport

Diouf has been the center of controversy through his footballing career. Whether it's spitting at fans or getting involved in brawls, he's always had his share of troubles. While we obviously have no perspective on these players personal beliefs, it's hard to believe that this claim by Diouf is nothing more than retaliation for Gerrard's comments.

A player who has spent his whole career mired in craziness, is always going to attempt to rile up more harsh feelings whenever possible. Unless more respectable players come and back up this sentiment, it should be disregarded.