The 21-year-old was one of several players to show support for the protests that swept the United States after the killing of George Floyd
Achraf Hakimi says he is proud of the stance against racism he and Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho took on the field this season.
Hakimi and Sancho were among several Bundesliga players who during matches showed support for the protests that erupted in the United States after George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in May.
The Dortmund duo celebrated goals by revealing t-shirts with the message ‘Justice for George Floyd’ written on them and the German Football Association (DFB) decided not to punish the protesting players.
Hakimi says he was inspired to participate in the demonstration because he feels it is important for people to show their support for justice and equality.
“I’m from Africa, my father is from Africa. I’m a little bit a black guy. I spoke with Sancho before the Paderborn game, he wrote ‘Justice for George Floyd’ on my t-shirt and said: ‘You need to score and take the T-shirt up to show the people’,” he told BBC Sport.
“We both did it. It was great to be one of the players to do this thing to show the people. Yes of course [players should speak out against racism]. It’s not only football players – all the people in the world need to speak about this, because everyone is the same.
“I don’t care if you’re a black guy, a white guy, if you have money, if you don’t have money, I don’t care. I think everybody needs to be the same, and get the same justice.”
Although Dortmund wanted to extend the full-back’s loan from Real Madrid, he has already bid farewell to the German club’s fans as he is on the verge of joining Inter in a €40 million (£36m/$45m) move.
The 21-year-old played a key role for the Bundesliga runners-up this term and he hopes to enjoy as many first-team opportunities in Italy.
“I think next I need to relax a little bit. For my head and my body. Then after I need to think about everything – what I have and what is better for me,” he said.
“I want to continue to play, like I have done since I was 17 years old. I want to play all the time like I have done over these last two years with Dortmund. If I play regularly, I think I can be a good player – you learn more and become better. I don’t care where, you know. I think only that wherever I go, I go to play.
“I think it’s an amazing thing to play [for Dortmund] in front of 80,000 people. It doesn’t matter where you play, this feeling is incredible.”
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