Barcelona’s Daniel Alves, was the target of Racial Abuse last Sunday, during a league match away at Villareal’s El Madrigal Stadium.
Fans in some European Countries such as Spain still indulge in Racial Abuse, often by chanting, hooting like a monkey and other offensive ways.
But what happened on Sunday was astounding. The Brazilian Defender was preparing to take a corner kick, when someone from the crowd threw a banana near him. Instead of getting angry, Alves calmly picked up the banana and took a bite of it, before throwing the rest away.
This was a brilliant way to get back at the fan who abused him, and also in a way, his way of saying “This isn’t something new. I don’t care.”
Alves made a statement which said,
'I don't know who threw the banana but I want to thank him. It gave me the energy to put two more crosses in for our goals.'
He also openly criticized Spanish people for their backward behaviour. The fan was arrested by the Spanish Police. Villareal FC have issued a lifetime ban for the suspect, and also expressed their apologies, in a statement issued at their website, while also condemning the incident. Alves also commented saying that the suspect should be shamed publicly, by putting his photo on the internet.
Alves’ Barcelona teammate, and compatriot, Neymar started something in support of his friend, that went viral on the internet. Neymar posted a picture of himself on Instagram, eating a banana, accompanied by a hashtag which said “We are all monkeys”.
What followed was incredible. Several footballers started doing the same on Twitter, Facebook to support Alves. Here is a list of the most popular ones who posed with bananas to support Alves.
- Arsenal's Bacary Sagna
- Chelsea’s David Luiz
- Juventus’ Dani Osvaldo, Kwadwo Asamoah, Paul Pogba, Sebastian Giovinco
- Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho & Luis Suarez
- Manchester City’s Fernandinho, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure
- Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele & Nacer Chadli
- Zenit St. Petersburg's Hulk
Italian Premier Matteo Renzi and the Italian Football Team’s Manager Cesare Prandelli, Ukrainian Heavyweight Boxer Wladimir Klitschko also ate bananas, to show their solidarity for Alves.
And it wasn’t just celebrities who are supporting Alves, look at the Ashampoo team:
We support Alves too!
Image credits: Eurosport Yahoo