Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng has hailed his half-brother Kevin-Prince Boateng for his public stance against racism in football.
The AC Milan midfielder, who walked off the pitch in January when he was racially abused by a group of Pro Patria fans during a friendly game, delivered a speech on Friday about how to tackle the problem.
"I knew he had worked on that speech for a long time," Jerome told Der Tagesspiegel. "It is not that often a footballer speaks in front of such a parliament. For me, he has been the first footballer who put up some resistance. I have heard [Samuel] Eto'o also left the pitch once, but it did not have such an impact.
"A lot of players should have done that much earlier, setting a visible sign against daily racism in stadiums just like Kevin and his team mates did. It takes a lot of courage to do so. He showed everyone that enough is enough.
"I don't know if he is a hero. But I am delighted, especially for him. He did not have the best image with the German public."
Boateng was made the first member of FIFA's anti-discrimination taskforce last week.
