International striker, Samuel Eto’o told CNN recently how a jeweler in London declined to sell him a luxury watch that cost about 15,000 pound sterling because some Nigerian came to the outlet the day before using a fake credit card. The Cameroonian who was a former Premier League player and ranked the 5th richest footballer in history told CNN of his experience at the luxury watch outlet in London.
“I asked the saleswoman — who was also black like me — ‘Could you show me that watch please?’
“First, I saw her turn and look at her coworkers like, ‘Uh, what should I do?’
“Eventually, she let me see the watch. I looked at it and said, ‘OK, I’ll buy it.’
“I took out my credit card and when she went to go run it through the machine, she came back and said that it was declined. I asked her, ‘Was it declined or did you not want it to be accepted?’ because this has happened to me many times and she told me, ‘No, it was declined.”
Eto’o, who played in London with Chelsea last season, called his brother who was nearby and it was he who brought out a new credit card so the transaction could be completed.
While Eto’o does speak English, his brother has a far wider vocabulary and was able to ask just what had occurred moments earlier.
“My brother can afford this and the way you’re treating him shows that you think just because he’s black, he can’t afford this watch,” said the sibling.
Eto’o then takes up the story, saying the lady in the store said she was wary of him because some Nigerians with fake credit cards had previously visited the store:
“We had some Nigerians in the store the other day who came with fake credit cards.”
“If one of my own makes a mistake, they judge us all. Tomorrow, if a white man in Africa makes a mistake, we should judge all white people? No!
