Racism in football: UEFA blasts banana, monkey abuse in Spain

Madrid European footballs governing body UEFA Monday blasted racist attacks in Spain and called for action after fans subjected foreign players to monkey taunts and bananathrowingLevantes Diop right in action against Atletico on Sunday PicAFPSpains Football League followed suit and warned of sanctions for racist behaviour while announcing compulsory training for all its member clubs to avoid a repeat of the same behaviourJust a week after a fan threw a banana at Barcelonas Brazilian defender Dani Alves another player Levantes Senegalese midfielder Pape Diop was subjected to monkey taunts on SundayUEFA and its president Michel Platini strongly condemn all forms of discrimination including recent racist behaviour of fans in Spain Platinis spokesman Pedro Pinto said in a message on TwitterUEFA has tough rules and sanctions against all forms of discrimination for all of its competitions he addedWhere instances occur outside of our jurisdiction we support appropriate action being taken by the relevant authoritiesThe 28yearold Diop accused Atletico Madrid fans of subjecting him to monkeychanting abuse as his side inflicted a shock 20 defeat on the Liga leaders at the weekendHe reacted by dancing in front of the travelling fans at the final whistle and television images showed some furious Atletico supporters making monkey gesturesA provocationIt affected me a lot Diop saidI dont have anything against the Atletico fans It is a provocation I get in many grounds It has to stop I dont know if it is racism or a lack of respect he addedThey have to stop making monkey gestures at black playersSpains professional football league the LFP said it strongly condemns any racist discriminatory violent xenophobic or intolerant acts especially in football and sportThe league warned of sanctions for serious breaches of antiracism laws and said all member clubs would be obliged to follow special training to prevent a repeat of such behaviourThe LFP will pursue this type of behaviour it said in a statementThe monkey slurs made headlines in the British pressSpanish football must face up to the fact that they have a serious racist problem They cant continue to bury their heads in the sand tweeted former England international Gary Lineker who once played for BarcelonaA week earlier Barcelonas Brazilian international Alves shone a spotlight on racism in Spanish football when he took a bite out of a banana thrown at him during his sides win over VillarrealStar players of different nationalities and races including Neymar Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez joined a we are all monkeys campaign after the incidentThe alleged bananathrower was subsequently arrested and handed a lifetime ban from the stadium by VillarrealAlves said it was not a oneoff I have been in Spain 11 years and it has been the same for 11 years You have to laugh at these backward people he said after the gameSerious racist problemTopselling Spanish sports daily Marca said a delegation of Atletico players visited Diop in the changing rooms after the match to offer their apologies But there was no official public reaction from the clubDiops little dance directed at the Atletico fans was over the top Barcelonabased sports daily Mundo Deportivo said Monday But the alleged racist shouts were too just like any other insult it addedThe reaction echoed the tone of some comments by Spanish football officials after the Alves bananathrowing scandal a week earlierIt is not everyone I want to think these are isolated incidents In football there is no racism not at all Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said at the timeSalvador Rodriguez Moya journalist and author of Black card to racism which recounts 300 racist acts in Spanish football said it would be wrong to condemn all of Spain and all Spanish football as racist describing the incidents as isolated and anecdotalBut it is still true that it is like a sleeping volcano which could erupt at any moment Moya said in an interview