Spanish defender Jorge Cuenca recently released a selfie with his Fulham teammate Adama Traore, which has caused a lot of controversy online.
Cuenca joined Fulham from Villarreal last season for a fee in excess of €7m plus add-ons.
The Spaniard played only 12 games across all competitions for Fulham last season, and it looks like he has added more problems to his already shaky start in London.
Cuenca posted a picture with Adama Traore on his social media handle, where it could be seen that the pair were inside Fulham’s dedicated gym or fitness area.
In the image, it can be seen that Cuenca was trying to mimic or impersonate Traore’s hairstyle by putting the triceps pull-down ropes on top of his head.
This was an attempt by the Spaniard to mimic Traore’s dreadlock hairstyle.
Traore was seen in the image giving a smirk and a smile, although with a side-eye of the highest caliber.
Once this image came out across social media, fans poured in with their reactions, with many calling Cuenca racist for his portrayal of Traore’s hairstyle.
Dreadlocks have long held cultural and political meaning within Black communities.
For many Black individuals, locs are not just a hairstyle; they represent pride, resistance to slavery, and the reclamation of identity in societies that have historically discriminated against natural Black hair.
This discrimination is found across industries, as Black people have been penalized for wearing locs, twists, braids, and afros.
Things got so bad at one point in time that the U.S. had to pass laws like the CROWN Act to prohibit race-based hair discrimination.
In football, these dynamics are also visible.
Paul Pogba’s frequent hairstyle changes during his time at Manchester United have been largely framed as distractions in the media, with critics questioning his commitment, when all of that is rarely directed at white players for making similar choices, such as Grealish, etc.
In an interview ahead of France’s World Cup clash with Denmark in 2018, the midfielder stated,
I think it is a French or European mentality; apparently, you are not allowed to have a hairstyle and play football,” Pogba told reporters. “I do not understand—you only talk of the negative.
Raheem Sterling has also publicly called out how young Black players are disproportionately targeted in UK tabloids for their appearance or lifestyle, even when their white peers make similar decisions.
In a separate incident, Victor Osimhen was also a target.
In September 2023, Napoli’s official TikTok account posted a video mocking Osimhen’s penalty miss and then shared another video that overlaid his face and hair on a coconut, accompanied by derogatory captions.
It got so bad that Osimhen had to threaten legal action against Napoli for the blatant racism.
Osimhen later even removed most Napoli-related content from his social media accounts.
Even pundits like Thierry Henry and Micah Richards criticized Napoli for the direct racial abuse via TikTok and were left “stunned.”
In light of this, one fan stated,
This is racism, by the way. It should not be condoned in any way. There’s no way it’s okay.
Others also believed that the impersonation and image were a pathetic attempt at humor from Cuenca’s side.
One fan stated,
Cuenca doesn’t understand how jarring this actually is, Adama with a pity smile aswell. Sometimes just know when to mind your business rather than buss joke
While some genuinely thought that Traore had hidden meanings behind his side eye in the image.
One fan stated,
That side-eye looks like a warning
On the other side of the coin, many fans were calling out the wokeness in these racist allegations as well.
One fan suggested that the image might have been between two mates just goofing around and stated,
People are saying this is racist when it is literally just 2 mates goofing around 😭 yall are so brainrotted by the internet you cant even IMAGINE how normal humans interact with one another
There was some substance to this argument, as later the full video version of the incident also emerged online.
In this video, after giving the side-eye, Traore could be seen jokingly trying to pull the triceps rope down off Cuenca’s head, suggesting that the pair might just be having banter amongst themselves.
Here is the full video:
A few others argued that it wasn’t racist at all when the race or skin wasn’t even involved, but rather the hairstyle was.
One fan stated,
How is this racism? If I make jokes about my friends hair? The skin color doesn’t matter for that
One fan also questioned the authenticity of the allegations when Traore himself hasn’t said anything with regard to him having an issue with the impersonation or image.
He stated,
They are teammates and are both Spanish, which makes me assume that they are friends. Yall are soft lol. The teammate doesn’t care; why do you?
Traore scored 2 goals and delivered 9 assists across all competitions for Fulham last season, mainly playing as an impact substitute.
Cuenca, too, managed to play only 12 games for the London side last season.
As Fulham play Nottingham Forest in their first preseason friendly game on the 27th of July at the Estádio de São Luís in Portugal, the pair and their gaffer, Marco Silva, both will hope that they can leave this online controversy and frenzy behind and be fit and ready for the game, the season ahead, and also to be the first ones on Fulham’s team sheets.
