Spain records new episodes of racism in football – 03/30/2024 – Sport

Two more cases of racism at football matches were recorded in Spain this Saturday (30).

The dispute between Sestao River and Rayo Majadahonda, for the third division of the national championship, was suspended in the final minutes of the second half. Senegalese Cheikh Sarr, 23, goalkeeper for Rayo Majadahonda, was sent off for attacking fans who, according to the club, hurled racist chants at the athlete.

The team decided to leave the field, and Rayo Majadahonda condemned the episode: “Our team will not resume the match after receiving unacceptable racist insults towards our player. We condemn any type of racist insults in sport.”

Marcos Acuña, 32, Sevilla full-back, was also the target of attacks from the opposing fans. The Argentine was called a “monkey” by a group of Getafe fans during the second half of the Spanish Championship match played at the Alfonso Pérez stadium, in Madrid.

After noticing the racist insult, the referee activated the tournament’s protocol for cases of this type. The game was stopped, and an alert was issued over the stadium’s public address system. Sevilla and the championship organization condemned the episode in posts on social media.

“There is no place in sport for racist or hateful acts. LaLiga strongly condemns any gesture of racism and will continue to work to eradicate this intolerable behavior from our sport”, published LaLiga, organizer of the competition.

Sevilla coach Quique Sánchez Flores also claimed to have suffered insults during the match. According to the coach, members of the opposing fans pejoratively called him “gypsy”.

“I am absolutely proud, through every pore of my veins, that I can breathe gypsy, but it’s one thing to be gypsy or part gypsy, and another for it to be used as a racist insult. I find that abhorrent,” he said.