Valencia walks off after teammate allegedly hears racist insult from opponent
Play during the La Liga match between Valencia and Cádiz was stopped after 29 minutes on Sunday after Valencia's Mouctar Diakhaby allegedly heard a racist insult from Cádiz's Juan Cala.
According to Marca.com, it's not known what the insult was, but both players had a "lengthy conversation" with each other and the referees when play was halted. The result of that? A yellow card, which didn't satisfy Valencia at all. The team then walked off the field together in protest.
Mouctar Diakhaby was subject to alleged racial abuse from Cadiz's Juan Cala, and the entire Valencia team walked off the pitch in support of their teammate. #CadizValencia pic.twitter.com/sdK2AuIBNi
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 4, 2021
After walking off, the team reportedly had a discussion in the locker room about what to do next. According to the team's Twitter account, Valencia returned to the field after several minutes "to fight for the honor of the club" with the support and encouragement of Diakhaby.
𝗡𝗢 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗠 ✊🏽✊🏿
The team have held a meeting and decided to continue the game, in order to fight for the honour of the club, but denounce racism of any kind.#CádizValencia— Valencia CF 🦇🍊🌊 (@valenciacf_en) April 4, 2021
We offer our complete backing to @Diakhaby_5
The player, who had received a racial insult, requested that his teammates return to the pitch.
WE SUPPORT YOU MOUCTAR
𝗡𝗢 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗠 ✊🏽✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/iPtPSpdNYv— Valencia CF 🦇🍊🌊 (@valenciacf_en) April 4, 2021
Diakhaby did not return to the game with his teammates, and was substituted with Hugo Guillamon. Cádiz won the match 2-1.
After the game, Valencia captain Jose Gaya gave more details about why the team decided to come out of the locker room after walking off to protest the racial abuse directed at their teammate.
Gaya says Valencia went back out because they were told they had to or they would lose three points.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) April 4, 2021
FIFPro, which is the representative body for the players of 63 member nations (including Spain's), said it would monitor the situation.
According to Sid Lowe of The Guardian, Spanish referees have the power to stop a game in the event of racial abuse. In this case, they did not, and Valencia was essentially forced to come back out and finish the game or lose three points. Lowe reported that Valencia is expected to file a formal complaint.
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