Kolo Toure claims clubs discriminate against Africans

FORMER Manchester City captain Kolo Toure has launched a scathing attack on his club, his manager Roberto Mancini and his Montenegran team-mate Stefan Savic and now seems set to follow another stroppy former Citizens skipper, Carlos Tevez, out of the Etihad stadium in January.
 
The Ivorian defender claimed that Mancini held a grudge against him for playing in the annual African Nations Cup (ANC) and that players who represent their countries in the ANC are victimised not only at City but across the Premier League. "African players are the victims of discrimination," he said.
 
The Guardian reports that he told French football magazine So Foot: "To compete in the ANC, it's catastrophic these days. Coaches no longer want to sign players because of it. I am convinced that, if I am not playing [for City], it's not only for football reasons. If it was only about the game, I'd be playing every week. I am the victim of that, and it has to be said."
 
He claimed that he was still being punished by Mancini for missing a game against Manchester United when he was unable to get back to England in time after the last tournament in Angola.
 
Toure, who served a six-month ban after failing a drugs test this year, also rounded on fellow City defender Savic, who joined the club in the summer. Neither he nor Toure are first team regulars but the Ivorian appeared in no doubt about where he stood in the Etihad pecking order.
 
The Daily Telegraph quotes him as saying: "When you look at the performance of Savic against QPR – excuse me, I'm relaxed, I know my qualities, I've got nothing to prove here in England."
 
The Manchester Evening News reports that Mancini wants Kolo Toure, who is the brother of midfielder Yaya Toure, to stay at City. But most observers agree that he will join Carlos Tevez in leaving the club in January. ·