Valencia team walk off the pitch after one of their players claimed to be insulted racially by an opponent.
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European football continues to be marred by racist incidents. Valencia walk off during their La Liga match against Cadiz for a brief period after defender Mouctar Diakhaby claimed he was racially insulted by an opponent. In the La Liga match between Cadiz and Valencia, Valencia players walked off the pitch in the 32nd minute after one of it’s players claimed that he was racially abused by an opponent. Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby claimed that he was racially insulted by Cadiz defender Juan Cala, who has denied the allegation.
The incident happened in the 29th minute following which Diakhaby spoke to the referee and few minutes late Valencia captain Jose Luis Gaya lead the team off the pitch.
Both Diakhaby and Cala were shown a yellow card and the Valencia defender was substituted and Cala went on the play before being substituted at half time.
Valencia tweeted: “The team has come together and decides to return to fight for the badge but all of Valencia is firm in condemning racism of all forms.”
A further tweet added: “Our TOTAL SUPPORT for @Diakhaby_5. NO TO RACISM. The player, who has received a racist slur, has asked his teammates to return to the field to fight. ALL WITH YOU, MOUCTAR”.
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— Valencia CF ??? (@valenciacf_en) April 4, 2021
After the game, Valencia captain Jose Gaya said: “We went back out to play because they told us they could penalise us with three points and something more.”
Valencia head coach Javi Gracia added: “In the changing rooms we were told if we didn’t return, we would be sanctioned.
“We spoke with Diakha, about how he was, and he told us he wouldn’t play but he understood perfectly we had to continue to avoid a possible sanction. So we returned.”
In UK, Tottenham’s Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez was racially abused on social media following his teams 2-2 draw at Newcastle United.
In a similar incident on Saturday, West Brom’s Callum Robinson was subject to racial abuse on social media following his splendid performance in the 5-2 victory against Chelsea.
