Car of bisexual footballer attacked in Italy in homophobic attack: 'I fled to Italy, hate won't let me go here either'

Nigeria-born 27-year-old footballer Evans Ogbaje discovered on Thursday morning that his car was vandalized and damaged with homophobic insults in front of his home in the town of Marano, Vicenza province, Italy. Ogbaje expressed the shock and disappointment he experienced, stating that he had come to Italy to escape the discrimination he had faced throughout his life due to his sexual orientation, but faced a similar hate crime here. The footballer, who arrived at the scene and found that the car was scratched, its license plate removed, and obscene drawings and the inscription 'troia gay' (gay whore) were written on it, faced a huge shock when he left home for work in the morning. The young footballer said he hoped to feel safer in Italy, but the attack reminded him of past traumas and ruined his peace.

Leaving home around 07:00 in the morning to go to work as usual, Ogbaje could not digest the situation when he realized his car was unusable and remained in shock. The young athlete, who set off to work at a gas station in the municipality of Zané, Vicenza, noticed animalistic drawings, phallic symbols and scribbles on the hood of his car and inspected it holding his breath. Seeing that his license plate was completely removed and the side had the heavy insult 'troia gay' written on it, Ogbaje said he didn't know what he felt at that moment and faced a disgusting situation. Ogbaje, who immediately took action to report the situation to the authorities, showed a tough stance against the vandalism and hate crime, emphasizing that he would do his best to find the perpetrators.

The victim footballer immediately called the Carabinieri to file a criminal complaint, summoned the authorities to the scene, and requested the examination of security cameras in the area. Ogbaje stated that his car became unusable due to its condition and estimated the material damage of the attack to be around 3000 Euro. The footballer expressed the sadness that he would have to bear all the expenses because insurance companies usually do not cover vandalism acts, stating that the economic burden increased the psychological pressure even more. Ogbaje, pinning his hope on security cameras to catch the perpetrators, said he hoped the attackers' tracks would be found in the records of surveillance systems around and wanted justice to be served as soon as possible.

Silva Marano amateur football club, where Ogbaje plays, immediately took action to support their player against this heinous attack and showed an example of solidarity. Club officials and the technical staff announced that they strongly condemned the incident Ogbaje experienced, that they were cooperating with law enforcement units to find the attackers, and that they mobilized their own resources in this direction. In the statement, it was emphasized that the club's stance against all kinds of discrimination and hate speech is clear, that Evans Ogbaje is a respected member of the club and society, and that being subjected to such an event caused deep sadness. The club showed that they stood by Ogbaje by saying they would be by the footballer's side both materially and morally and provide support in the legal process if necessary.