In a courageous and uplifting gesture, a young and promising Maltese goalkeeper has made peace with a San Ġwann FC Nursery official who racially insulted him last week.

“Everyone makes mistakes and everyone can be forgiven, as long as they don’t repeat the same mistake,” goalkeeper Rashed Al-Tumi said in an interview with Net News.

Al-Tumi met with Manuel Pisani, together with The Youth Football Association and San Ġwann FC Nursery, to discuss last week’s racially-motivated incident in which Pisani attacked the goalkeeper for showing solidarity with the George Floyd protests in the United States.

“They’re not people,” Pisani said on a Facebook post. “Wake up you Americans so you take your country back. America of red Indians. The place for black people is in Africa and nowhere else. They’re not people.”

Following the incident, Pisani was sacked from his position at the Youth Nursery.

However, Pisani has since acknowledged that he had faltered and the two even snapped a photo together.

Born in Valletta, Al-Tumi is widely considered to be one of the island’s most promising goalkeepers and has even formed part of Malta’s national team.

“It encourages me to play football. At the end of the day, you can receive racist comments but you have to continue with life,” said Al-Tumi following meetings with Pisani.

“At the end of the day, you can receive racist comments but you have to continue with life.”

“As bad as it was, it became good today. It wasn’t my intention and I made a new friend today,” Pisani said.

Malta continues to grapple with racism within its own society, with Lassana Cisse Souleymane killed over a year ago in what is believed to be the country’s first racially motivated murder..”

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