Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has criticised Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho for his comments regarding the recent racial abuse suffered by black players.
The 19-year-old spoke out after Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku was racially abused by Cagliari fans on Sunday, suggesting that his 'love of the sport' will go if the recent tide of abuse continues.
The Belgian forward was merely the latest victim, with Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and Kurt Zouma all targeted on Twitter this season.
Barnes, who is now a vocal commentator on social justice issues, suggested to talkSPORT that Sancho and other players like him should instead be using their platform as top footballers to highlight racism in wider society.
The former Tranmere boss said: "Jadon said he will fall out of love with football, let him give up football. Let him go into the real world as a young black man, without education, without playing football.
"Then he will see what it is really like to be a black man being racially abused, what real discrimination is about.
"As much as footballers want to talk about how terrible it is for them, look at what's happening to the black community, kids without an education and without a job. They should use their voice, talk about discrimination, where it really helps people."
Sancho has been picked by Gareth Southgate for England's upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo.
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