Raheem Sterling declared “I’m black and I’m proud” as he rejected calls for players who receive racial abuse to walk off the pitch.

The Manchester City forward was speaking after a weekend of football that was marred by shameful events in England and Scotland, just days after Tottenham’s Danny Rose said he was looking forward to retiring from a game which has done too little to tackle the problem.

There have been calls for players to walk off the pitch if they are abused, but Sterling said he felt that would be the wrong move.