Abuse suffered by Morelos shows racism still a problem in Scotland – Gerrard

Steven Gerrard says the abuse aimed at Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos is proof Scottish football has a problem with racism.The Colombia striker claimed in an interview this week that he has experienced racism both on and off the pitch during his two-and-a-half-year stint in Glasgow.Morelos hit the headlines last month when he aimed a throat-slitting gesture at Celtic fans after being sent off at Parkhead.But he insists he was only signalling to the Hoops support to cut out the abuse.Now his manager has vowed to give the 23-year-old his full support but believes the situation should be a national embarrassment.He said: We always support on or off the pitch. Certainly if they are feeling they are suffering from abuse in the stands, were always there 100 per cent for our players.And were always there to support other players that maybe are on the end of it in our dressing room as well.It seems as if racism is still a problem, certainly in this country.Ive been one who has been very vocal in terms of saying we all have to keep doing what we need to do to eradicate it, because its bang out of order.Thats not me just supporting my own players, thats across the board.Its very disappointing that were talking about situations like this in this day and age. Its embarrassing, really.Morelos has been linked constantly with moves away from Ibrox recently on the back of his hot scoring streak.And Gerrard hopes the slurs Morelos claims he has faced will not be the deciding factor when the 28-goal frontman comes to decide his future.He said: I hope (Alfredo will not be driven out), because we love working with Alfredo. Hes a fantastic player.I know Im always going to be biased towards him but I think he brings something to this league.He makes the league a lot more exciting, so I hope not. I know he feels strongly about these issues.My advice to Alfredo is to continue to be strong were here for him if he needs that support and to continue to do what he does best, which is scoring goals and making our supporters happy.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Newport, PA');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'b04f88ea-d796-4395-9faa-339e0f3c557d');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Abuse suffered by Morelos shows racism still a problem in Scotland \u2013 Gerrard'});