The Catalan club released an official statement on Monday afternoon, supporting Dani Alves’ actions during Sunday’s away trip to Villarreal.
The Brazilian ate a banana thrown at him by the crowd and his club have now released the following statement:
FC Barcelona would like to underline the civil, cultural, social and sporting importance of two messages which UEFA remind us of before every game: Respect and No to Racism.
FC Barcelona wishes to express its complete support and solidarity with our first team player Dani Alves, following the insults he was subject to from a section of the crowd at El Madrigal on Sunday during the game against Villarreal. FC Barcelona accepts that the perpetrators of these insults are in no way connected to Villarreal and we value very positively the support the club offered to our player. The club’s immediate condemnation of the incidents is a step in the right direction to firstly isolate and then eradicate completely from the sporting arena this kind of behaviour.
FC Barcelona reiterates its support for UEFA’s message of Respect and No to Racism and urges all clubs to continue fighting against the blight on the game which any kind of aggression against a sportsperson on the basis of their race represents.
Alves himself revealed that racism needs to be battled in such a manner to remove the sense of satisfaction from any perpetrators.
“We have suffered this in Spain for some time,” said Alves, reported by the Guardian.
“You have to take it with a dose of humour. We aren’t going to change things easily. If you don’t give it importance, they don’t achieve their objective.”
