Irankunda says Hanson's monoculture comments upset team during World Cup

Irankunda says Hanson's monoculture comments upset Socceroos during World Cup

Nestory Irankunda and the Socceroos were competing at the World Cup when Pauline Hanson made her comments about multiculturalism. (Getty Images: Stu Forster)

Socceroo Nestory Irankunda says his fellow players were upset by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's comments on multiculturalism during the World Cup.

Fellow Socceroo Awer Mabil previously said the comments had not distracted the team from the tournament.

Senator Hanson later said the Socceroos represented her vision of a monocultural Australia.

Socceroos star winger Nestory Irankunda says One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's comments on multiculturalism upset many of the players during the recent World Cup.

The Australian team was competing at the tournament in North America in June when Ms Hanson made a speech at the National Press Club saying Australia should end its policy of multiculturalism in favour of a monoculture.

"It really did upset me and it upset a lot of the other boys to see things and hear things like that," Irankunda said.

Irankunda, who is one of several Socceroos players from a refugee background, told 702 ABC Sydney while he tried to stay off social media it was hard to avoid the senator's comments.

"There can be some people who do the wrong thing but that doesn't mean that's all of us," he said.

"There's people like me, and Awer [Mabil], Mohamed Touré that go out there. There's a lot of boys like us that go out there and do the right thing.

"I don't like how they try and put us in the whole same category as the other people who do bad."

Irankunda was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania in 2006 to Burundian parents who fled the nation's civil war. He came to Australia when he was three months old.

Irankunda was speaking with presenter Hamish Macdonald on 702 ABC Sydney just days after moving from English Championship club Watford to Portuguese side Sporting CP for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of $26 million.

The footballer said he probably wouldn't like to speak with the One Nation senator as he was still upset by the comments and "some of the things she said in the past".

"I'm not someone that likes to jump into controversial things or this political stuff. But I mean, you know, you never know," Irankunda said.

"One day I could be on the phone with her or sitting in an office chatting to her. So I mean … we'll see what happens."

Pauline Hanson's speech at the National Press Club included a call to end Australia's decades-old policy of multiculturalism. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

After her press club speech, Hanson said the Socceroos represented her vision of a monocultural Australia.

"People from different background and cultures and nations all wearing the green and gold and representing one nation under one flag and succeeding under the same set of rules," Hanson said in the Senate in June.

Socceroo Awer Mabil addressed the monoculture debate when he returned in July from the tournament, declaring his team was not distracted and that it was "all bullshit" to suggest Australia was not a multicultural society.

Australian team destined to 'go far'

Irankunda said despite the Round of 32 loss to Egypt, the Socceroos had youth on their side and could go further into the tournament.

"You can see now with the likes of Lucas Herrington, Ali [Alessandro] Circati, Jordy Bos, you know, Mohamed Touré, all these names, all these young boys coming through, including myself," Irankunda said.

"There's still a lot of talent coming through in Australia right now.

"Only time will tell how far we can go. But I feel like in my heart that we can go pretty far."