We are all monkeys: Neymar after racial abuse on Barca star

PTI London Bureau

London, Apr 29 (PTI) Frustrated that racism is still
prevalent in world football, Brazilian sensation Neymar has
called himself and the ones subjected to discrimination on the
basis of skin colour, nationality and ethnicity, "monkeys",
following Barcelona defender Dani Alves' sensible handling of
abuse during a La Liga game.
     Coming out in support of Alves, club team-mate and
compatriot Neymar posted a photograph of himself on Instagram
holding a banana while writing "We are all monkeys".
     FIFA chief Sepp Blatter has issued a stern warning that
no act of racial discrimination will be tolerated in the World
Cup, following the incident for which Alves is receiving
support of the global football community.
     "What Dani Alves tolerated last night is an outrage. We
must fight all forms of discrimination. Will be zero tolerance
at World Cup," Blatter wrote on his twitter handle.
     The incident happened during the Catalan giants' away
game at Villareal in the Spanish League last Sunday.
     Just as he was about to take a corner kick, a section of
crowd at El Madrigal threw a banana onto the pitch in front of
Alves.
     In an unconventional response, Alves picked up the
banana, peeled it off and took a bite before proceeding to
take the corner kick.
     The football community rallied around Alves after the
unfortunate incident.
     Manchester City star Sergio Aguero turned to twitter to
support Alves and so did former England striker Gary Lineker,
who described Alves' response as "brilliant".
     Argentina striker Aguero posted a picture of him and
Brazil women's superstar Marta taking a bite from bananas,
accompanied with the message: "With my colleague Marta from
Brazil we say #NoToRacism. We are all equal".
     Togo and Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor wrote on his
Twitter account: "Massive respect to danid2ois, there is no
place for Racism in Football. £saynotoracism."
     Alves himself had said he was "now used to the abuse
after 11 years in Spain" and tends to treat such incidents
"with a dose of humour".
     Compatriots Hulk, Fred and Lucas Leiva extended their
support too, with the Liverpool midfielder writing on twitter:
"Congratulations on your attitude yesterday. We are together
on this fight against racism." PTI AH CM
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