In an extensive interview with NU.nl, Bilal Ould-Chikh recalled some shocking abuse that came his way this season. The FC Volendam winger alleged that he was called a ‘Cancer Muslim’.
Pairing this recent disgusting remark with a long-standing feeling of being structurally excluded due to his background, Ould-Chikh is prepared to move away from the Netherlands after his football career.
The Roosendhal-born Ould-Chikh secured promotion to the Eredivisie with Volendam on Monday evening, but in an interview with NU.nl, it seemed more important to talk about discrimination.
At the end of last month, and despite sparkling form, the former FC Twente and Benfica player already expressed the suspicion that he was being subjected to racism from some of his own supporters. This was followed by a statement from FC Volendam, in which it was stated that both the club and Ould-Chikh would make ‘no further statements’.
“Sometimes I can’t explain why I am approached more critically than others, other than on the basis of my background,” said Ould-Chikh. “I remained polite in interviews. But people need to realize how much I have experienced in recent years in terms of discrimination and racism.”
“It happens everywhere. At ADO Den Haag’s stadium, at FC Den Bosch. Earlier this season I was called a ‘cancer Muslim’ there”.
Things also went wrong in Emmen, where he scored the winning goal last season. “Afterwards, an older man came up to me. ‘Nice goal, but too bad someone of your kind scores it’, he said. His friends immediately said he was crazy. Still: how can you say something like that?”
Although these nasty incidents do not detract from the fun the creative player has had at Volendam, unfortunately he remains certain that he wants to leave the Netherlands for a place of familial origin.
“It is a kind of trauma. The feeling that I am different has always remained. After my career, I will move to Morocco. I feel more at home there than in the Netherlands.”
