Soccer star Radja Nainggolan mistaken for terrorist at Belgium hotel

Those who follow the A.S. Roma and Belgian national soccer clubs are very familiar with midfielder Radja Nainggolan. Those who don’t might mistake him for a terrorist, apparently.

The Independent reports (via a Belgian newspaper) that Nainggolan was relaxing at a hotel in his native Belgium earlier this week when some fellow guests were concerned about his appearance. They suspected he was a terrorist and called the police because he was “acting suspicious.”

When officers arrived, they knew exactly who Nainggolan was.

“Obviously, I have a look that is scary,” Nainggolan told La Dernière Heure. “Fortunately the police recognized me.”

One Nainggolan’s friends later shared a photo on Twitter of the 27-year-old and his buddies smiling with police.

@RadissonBlu people called the police because @OfficialRadja was acting suspicious pic.twitter.com/kkKUkL8JUd

— Naoufal Attar (@_Naoufal) November 17, 2015

We know tensions are high because of what happened in France last week, but it’s a shame that Nainggolan, who is of Indonesian descent, was racially profiled. Kudos to him for taking it in stride.

H/T Deadspin