CELTIC defender Alistair Johnston has praised the diversity of Canada after responding to a social media post about the country's national football team.
Taking to Twitter on Saturday, the Canadian said that diversity was what gave the country its strength and made it special.
The 25-year-old was responding to a tweet that compared pictures of the Canadian men's team from a game against Jamaica last November with a Canadian side that faced Trinidad & Tobago in 2000.
"Canadian football team in 2000 vs. 2024. So tragic," commented the Twitter user.
"Few countries are undergoing population replacement as rapidly as Canada."
Johnston, whose mother is from Northern Ireland and whose father's family hail from England and Scotland, hit back at the user.
Quote tweeting the post, Johnston wrote: "What if I told you that myself and the other two 'white' players pictured here are the sons of immigrants as well?
"This is Canada. Our strength is in our diversity and it is what makes our country so special — not tragic."
His post on Saturday evening has since received almost 90,000 likes and has been shared more than 10,000 times.
Johnston joined Celtic in January 2023 (Image: Craig Williamson / SNS Group via Getty Images)Johnston, who has won five trophies with Celtic since joining in January 2023, is currently on Copa América duty in the US, where Canada lost the tournament's opening match 2-0 against holders Argentina on Thursday.
The right-back, who helped Canada to only their second World Cup in 2022, played the full 90 minutes at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
He is likely to start in his side's second group game against Peru in Kansas City on Tuesday.
In a separate incident, Canada's football association issued a statement on Friday criticising racist comments made online about one of its players following the defeat to Argentina.
The organisation has since named the player in question as Moïse Bombito and said it is providing support to the Colorado Rapids defender.
Continental governing bodies CONCACAF — of which Canada is one of 41 member associations — and Copa America organisers CONMEBOL have condemned the abuse directed at Bombito.
