Former Airdrie star Rico Quitongo makes 'skin didn't fit' claim as he says club painted a certain picture of him following racism row

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Rico Quitongo has alleged he had to leave Airdrie as 'for some people my face or my skin didn't fit' - and he has claimed the club painted him in a bad light over the racism row that erupted earlier this season.The 22-year-old has hit out at the treatment he received by a minority at the Monklands club and is delighted to put it behind him after signing for League One rivals Peterhead.Quitongo, who is the son of Hamilton Accies and Hearts star Jose, said in September that he was racially abused by a Diamonds fan during a 0-0 draw against Queen's Park in September last year, but the New Broomfield club dropped an investigation into the allegation the following month, saying there was "insufficient evidence".A statement issued by the club continued: "It was also important to ensure that our club and supporters as a whole were not unfairly accused of using racist language.

We believe that this process has been a vindication." Following the outcome of the investigation on October 12 last year, Quitongo did not play in the club's next game amid comments on social media by his brother Jai and he didn't make an appearance for six weeks.

Quitongo says he's saddened by his exit from Airdrie, having asked to be released last week, and says the whole incident soured his time there.

He told Lanarkshire Live Sport : "The first few months at Airdrie were amazing for me, but the last four or five months there have been a lot of complications, things to deal with, and I'm glad I'm at a team that's going to treat me equally, to be allowed to train and play my football, and that's all I want. "For the first few months of it I enjoyed every single minute, every single day of my time at Airdrie before the incident happened, and all I