The former Cameroon and Barcelona
striker received the medal in Kensington Palace, the home of Britain’s
Prince William and his wife Kate.
The award to the football star was
considered on his inspiring stand against racism in his football career
from Real Madrid and presently Sampdoria.
Eto’o, 33, famously tried to walk off the pitch during a Spanish match due to an incident of racist abuse.
He recorded a similar racist case
recently with the actions of Chelsea and West Ham fans during his last
two contracts with Chelsea and Everton.
In 2005 while playing for Barcelona,
Eto’o was heavily and racially abused by Real Zaragoza fans, who made
monkey chants whenever he touched the ball.
According to the Laureate, 2014 was particularly a challenging one in terms of hate and racism in his football career.
He thinks that football is a universal game and should not be exercised on multi-racial backgrounds.
Eto’o has won the Champions League three times, four domestic championships and the Club World Cup.
Now retired from international football,
he is Cameroon’s top goal scorer with 56 from 118 caps, and has won the
Africa Cup of Nations twice as well as an Olympic gold medal.
Founded in 2008, the ECTR’s first Medal
of Tolerance was conferred in 2010 on king Juan Carlos I of Spain, with
the second given jointly to Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and former
Serbian President Boris Tadic.
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