5 Most Brutal Acts Of Revenge In Football History

by Andrew Pollard

1. Didier Zakora Kicks Racism Out Of Football

For the longest time now, the slogan behind eradicating football's racism problem has been "kick racism out of football". And back in 2012, Emre Belözoğlu faced the full power of that slogan when he was kicked square in the balls.

During an April 2012 game between Fenerbache and Trabzonspor, Emre hacked down midfielder Didier Zokora before racially abusing the Ivory Coast international.

Emre would be suspended for two games for this abuse, and it looked as if the former Newcastle and Inter Milan man was going to get off lightly.

Fast forward to May of that year, and the two teams squared off once more.

This time out, Zokora and his team-mates spent the majority of the game kicking Emre all over the park; Zokora himself landing a particular tasty boot to the nuts. For those watching, this was karma at its glorious best as revenge was served meaty and cold.

Giving a further sense of comeuppance, Emre would later be given a two-and-a-half-month suspended prison sentence for his racist remarks.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.