A young Scots-Asian footballer who dreams of emulating Cristiano Ronaldo has told of the racism he has had to overcome in his fledgling career.
Hot-shot Rayan Mohammed made his first-team debut for Alloa Athletic at the age of 17 after scoring 35 goals in four months for club’s youth side. When he took to the field against Falkirk, the youngster, from Edinburgh, became one of the few homegrown talents from Scotland’s Asian community to make it into the senior SPFL ranks.
The 1100 fans who saw him play would have come away impressed by the jet-heeled forward who won a late penalty that rescued a point for his team. But to get this far, Rayan has faced incidents of racism, which he managed to overcome thanks to the backing of his mum Shameem and dad Asif – a former Scottish taekwondo champ. He said: “I’m lucky to have the parents I do – they’re always pushing me. They spent so much time taking me to training, standing in the rain and the snow pushing me to be the best I can be.
“I’ve had a few negative experiences and the way I’ve always felt is that I’ve had to work harder than the average person to be recognised. Being an Asian boy, it’s seemed like I’ve had to be two or three times better to look special.
“I know I’ve not reached the top yet but it does make me proud that I’m on my way and can be someone for other kids from my community to look to.
“I’ve experienced racism a couple of times on the pitch. There was one instance in an under-16 game where a player made a racist comment to me. The referee heard it and the player ended up being banned for six months.
“Some people might have taken that sort of thing to heart but I just use it as fuel to get better. He’d only reacted like that because I’d got the better of him. He was the goalkeeper and I’d scored twice. I was angry at the time, obviously, but I know it’s better to control my anger and respond in the right way – which I did because I went on to complete my hat-trick.”
Despite Scotland’s long, proud links with generations of families who have left India, Pakistan and Bangladesh behind while choosing to set up home here, few have emerged from those communities to play in senior football.
But now the Scotland schoolboy international hopes he can be a standard bearer for his community. Rayan said: “I just want to be the best I can be.
“Obviously my dream is to make it to the Premier League and to play for Scotland and score lots of goals. I’ve always loved Ronaldo – you can tell he’s such a hard worker and I’m all for that. It’s the example I try to follow.”
The reasons why so few Scottish-born South Asian players have been unable to make the grade are complex and varied.
Some are to do with cultural differences. Sadly, others have their roots in racism and discrimination. There is a stereotype that some Asian families put their sons and daughters off pursuing a career in football because they’d prefer them to focus on their studies. But that doesn’t ring true with James Gillespie’s High School pupil Rayan and his parents.
Shameem said: “I think the issue is that a lot of Asian families have this perception their children won’t make it as a footballer. As a young Asian, who is going to give them a chance? They think it’s better their kids put their efforts into their studies.
“I can understand why a lot of mums and dads feel like that. You could put so much effort into football and but there are no guarantees in this sport.
“But Asif and I saw it differently. We decided to push Rayan as much as we could because this is his dream. We have to support him. He can return to his education at any time but realistically, this is his one shot at football so why not give it a go?
“Rayan works so hard, sacrifices so much, like time with his friends. He even puts his school work to one side – maybe a little too much for our liking!
“But the teachers know how committed he is. He wants to be a role model for Asian boys.”
Rayan was picked up by Alloa last summer and has been fast-tracked to Brian Rice’s first-team thanks to his goals for the youths. “It’s been great working with such an experienced coach,” he added. “It’s amazing.
“I’m so grateful that the gaffer put his trust in me and gave me the chance to play first-team football.
“He’s said hopefully I’ll stay involved with the matchday squad going forward and we can just take it from there.”
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