Ian Wright believes Raheem Sterling's criticism stems from racism | OneFootball

Raheem Sterling revealed his gesture after scoring against Arsenal was aimed to silence his critics following his lack of goals for England at the World Cup.

The 23-year-old faced negative attention before the World Cup for getting a tattoo of a rifle on his leg.

Ian Wright defended the City winger, as he claims that Sterling is the subject of constant racism.

“How many people do you see get the criticism Sterling gets?” Wright said.

“The football criticism is something every player has to deal with, but what he gets I don’t see any other footballer getting,” Wright added on BBC Radio 5 live.

“They don’t get that stick because for whatever reason they don’t rub up the people in the corridors of power the wrong way. I think there is an agenda against him.

“There is an element of people at the high end of the media who want to keep that guy down. Simple.

“When you look at the wave of criticism that he takes, there is a certain amount of racism towards it, what else can it be?

“They are picking on him because of the background he has come from and they want to keep him down, drag him back down. They don’t want him to continue to be a success.

“People say you are playing the racism card, but you give me a good reason why Raheem Sterling gets the stick he gets for just being a footballer.”

Sterling recently wrote a piece in The Player’s Tribune just before the World Cup that those in the media and on social media “want to steal your joy.”