The Senegalese player said his dance was intended to ‘take the heat out of the situation’ after he claimed monkey chants were directed his way.
Just a week after Barcelona’s Dani Alves reacted to a banana being thrown at him by eating it, another player in La Liga has responded to alleged racist abuse from the stands.
Levante were playing host to Atletico Madrid yesterday when a section of the travelling support, according to Papakouli Diop, launched monkey chants at him as he prepared to take a corner. Diop’s response was to dance in front of them at the end of the game.
Some have accused Diop of trying to incite the crowd but in quotes given to AS after the game he makes clear what he was doing.
“This has to be stopped now.
“It is an issue that has affected me a lot. I went to take a corner and part of the Atletico support began doing monkey chants. To take the heat out of the situation, I started to dance, but I didn’t insult anyone.
“I don’t have anything against the Atletico supporters, because it was only a section of their support that shouted at me. I think it’s disrespectful that it happens at all stadiums. It’s a provocation. I don’t know if it can be called racism, but the monkey chanting has to be stopped now.”
You can clearly see some fans making monkey gestures towards Diop in the above clip. It is long past the time that Spanish authorities cracked down on this sort of thing.
