The footballers of the Valencia CF. left the court of the Ramón de Carranza Stadium in Cádiz shortly after half an hour of play after the French defender Mouctar Diakhaby received racist insults from a rival, as reported by the Valencian club on its Twitter account.
The match resumed about 10 minutes later, as both teams decided to return to the pitch, although the alleged victim, Diakhaby, remained in the locker room, being replaced by Hugo Guillamón.
“The team has met and decides to return to fight for the shield but firm in condemning the racism of all of Valencia in all its forms. Not racism,” denounced the Valencian club in a first tweet.
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“The player, who has received a racist insult, has asked his teammates to return to the field to fight. All with you, Mouctar,” Valencia added in another message.
Valencia issued a statement hours later in which, in addition to showing his “disappointment” that the referee did not make a decision, he confirmed the threats received about losing the game of not playing again, which Captain José Luis Gayá and coach Javi Gràcia had already signed up.
“The referee conveys to the players the potential consequences of not returning to the court. The players, forced to play under threat of penalty after racist insults and the yellow card to Diakhaby, decide to return to the field of play,” he said. denounce the entity.
The incident happened shortly after half an hour of play, when Diakhaby suddenly disengaged from the game to face Cadis player Juan Cala. The two players began to argue and later the Frenchman indicated to the referee that he was going to leave the field of play, a decision also taken by his teammates.
In the referee’s report, the referee David ha Jiménez stated that Diakhaby told him: “He called me ‘black shit'”.
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Cadis coach Alvaro Cervera said after the game that “Cala says he has never insulted the player. He is my player, I have to believe him.”
The Andalusian club also issued a statement in which, without specifically referring to Cala, says: “We do not doubt the honesty of all members of our staff.”
The incident reached even the political realm. “Equality and rejection of racism. This is the most important party. A hug to Diakhaby. This is their home, their land,” Valencian Prime Minister Ximo Puig wrote on Twitter.
The interruption of this match of the 29th day of Laliga, which was 1-1 on the scoreboard, precisely with Cala as the top scorer, was resumed 10 minutes later to play the last eight minutes of the first half, although Diakhaby he no longer jumped on the track. Yes, Joan Cala did, although he was also replaced at the break.
The two involved in the incident then settled into the stands to follow the second half of a match that ended in a 2-1 home victory.
This incident is reminiscent of Moussa Marega in February 2020: the French striker of Porto reported having suffered racist insults from a rival of Guimaraes and decided to leave the track, although this time his teammates did not they seconded and remained on the grass.
It is the first time in Spain that a match has been interrupted by a decision of the players, although it is not the first time that racist incidents have been recorded.
Following a complaint filed by Laliga, an investigation was opened against two Espanyol Barcelona fans who uttered racist insults and imitated the gestures of a monkey at the meeting of Athletic striker Iñaki Williams .
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On December 8, all the players of the Turkish Basaksehir left the court after one of the fourth referees, the Romanian Sebastian Coltescu, allegedly referred to Pierre Achille Webo, a member of the coaching staff of the Turkish team, as “black.”
The Paris SG players also left the Parc dels Príncipes court in support of Webo, in a match of the group stage of the Champions League, which resumed a day later. UEFA decided to suspend Coltescu for the rest of the season.
SPORTS
With AFP
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