Former Ghana International Laryea Kingston revealed that he suffered no racist abuse during his three seasons in Scotland playing for Heart of Midlothian.
The 40-year-old said he enjoyed his time in the Scottish Premier League after moving to the country from Russia.
Kingston played for Russian clubs such as Krylia Sovetov and Terek Grozny in Chechnya before he joined Lokomotiv Moscow on loan.
The mercurial midfielder disclosed that he played at a time racism was severe in Russia thus that impacted him in a way when he moved to Scotland.
“In my time with Hearts I didn’t experience any racism or comments against me. Before Hearts, I was playing in a country where racism is huge – over in Russia. I experienced it there, so after moving to Scotland I thought, ‘Wow, this is a place that is accepting’. I really enjoyed my time there and experienced no racism whatsoever", Kingston said in an interview.
Kingston shared an experience in an incident in the league game against Aberdeen where he wrongly accused the referee of being a racist.
“There was one time something happened between me and the ref Conroy. I felt he treated me unfairly but because I’d just come from Russia, I was very defensive.
“So any time I felt like I’d been treated unfairly, I tried to defend myself or say something back to the person I was receiving abuse from. That’s the only time I thought that.
“Afterwards he explained to me that his wife was black and he didn’t mean it that way. That made me feel I’d got it wrong.
“But throughout my stay in Scotland I felt only positive energy towards me as a black person.”, he concluded.
Laryea Kingston made 56 appearances for Hearts, scored nine goals and registered four assists in his three seasons with the club.