Glasgow Rocks basketball player 'disgusted' by racial harassment
A basketball player for the Glasgow Rocks has told BBC Scotland he and two team-mates were forced from their home in the city due to racial harassment.
By Chris McLaughlinBBC Scotland sports news correspondent Julius van Sauers, from the Netherlands, moved to Scotland after signing with the club last September. He and French players Marc Kwedi and David Mpondo had to move flats after their car was attacked and racist language used in complaints about them. The incidents were reported to police but no arrests have been made. Van Sauers told BBC Scotland he was "disgusted" and "very upset" when the incidents occurred in October last year. "I just didn't want to let it hurt me," he said. "So we kept moving forward as professional athletes but I do think of it. "It wasn't a fun time - it's not nice to feel unsafe or not feel welcomed." The club housed the players in the flat in the city's Barmulloch area but were contacted by neighbours complaining about noise. The complaint escalated and one letting agent took a call from someone describing the players using a racial slur. Soon afterwards the car the players had been given by the club had its tyres slashed and the windscreen smashed. Sean Skelly, Glasgow Rocks' general manager, said he was deeply saddened and embarrassed by the incident. "The guys were barely in the country at that point - they had only been in a matter of weeks," he said. "Also, bear in mind they hadn't been allowed to go out and see a lot of people, so this was pretty much their first encounter with Glaswegians. "It was embarrassing and in my head I'm thinking 'oh my god are these people going to think this is Glasgow, this is Scotland, this is a problem that we have here?', and obviously it is." The players have now been moved to a different area of the city and have not encountered further problems. The police were alerted to the issue but so far no arrests have been made.