DESPITE international efforts to counter it, racism continues to cast a shadow over football.

Allegations of racial abuse against fellow players by John Terry and Luis Suarez have damaged the image of the sport over the past season.

And there are growing fears that racist elements in Poland and Ukraine are planning to target Euro 2012. It is against this disturbing backdrop that Darlington businessman and football supporter Shaun Campbell deserves enormous credit.

In recent years, Mr Campbell has fought an admirable campaign to raise recognition of the world’s first black professional footballer, Arthur Wharton.

The player started his career in Darlington and Mr Campbell has worked tirelessly to honour his memory as a sporting pioneer. There are those who dismissed Mr Campbell as a dreamer, but he has succeeded in spreading the word about Arthur Wharton’s place in sporting history.

Ultimately, the aim is for a life-sized statue to be given pride of place in Darlington and Mr Campbell has persuaded an array of black stars, including Stevie Wonder and Rio Ferdinand, to put their names to his campaign.

Yesterday, his efforts were given a huge boost when a miniature version of the statue was presented to Sepp Blatter, president of football’s governing body, Fifa, in Zurich.

It is a remarkable achievement by the Arthur Wharton Foundation to reach football’s top table.

And Shaun Campbell should be applauded for not only raising the profile of a sporting hero, but striking an important blow for multi-culturalism in football.