Spanish league to denounce racist insults against player

Updated Mar. 1, 2022 4:58 a.m. ET

Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish league said Tuesday it will denounce racist insults by a fan against a Cádiz player.

The fan appeared to make gestures imitating a monkey as defender Carlos Akapo, who is Black, walked behind the goal while returning to the bench after being substituted in the second half of Cádiz’s scoreless draw at Granada on Monday.

The league said it has been trying to identify the fan and will take the case to Spanish authorities so they can pursue the necessary measures against him.

“RACISM must be eradicated,” Akapo wrote on Twitter. “It is unfortunate that in 2022 there are acts like this on a soccer field. We must set an example from the stands ... We can't give that example to children or anybody else.”

Akapo stopped for a moment after noticing what happened and said a few words to the fan, who repeated the gesture.

“I told him that was not necessary, but he kept doing the same gesture,” Akapo said after the match. “People like that don’t deserve to be in a stadium. They don’t represent the Granada supporters. I don’t understand how someone can insult others like that.”

The 28-year-old player from Equatorial Guinea said “three or four” fans insulted him, with one of them calling him a “monkey.”

Another Granada fan in front of the man who appeared to be insulting Akapo apparently asked him to stop provoking the player.

The league was also reportedly trying to identify a Rayo Vallecano fan who tried to spit on Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois as he prepared to take a goal kick in a league match on Saturday.

Last year, the league denounced racist insults by a Barcelona fan against Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior during a “clásico” at the Camp Nou.

The year before, the league condemned racist insults by Espanyol fans against Athletic Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams.

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