Cádiz took this Sunday at the Ramón de Carranza a rowdy and very strange game that should not have been played again after the incident between Juan Cala and Mouctar Diakhaby, with an alleged racist insult by the Andalusian team defender.
With the victory, Cádiz advances towards permanence.
And Valencia, who decided to continue despite what happened, lost a magnificent opportunity to leave the stadium and strongly condemn racism in football.
The team has met and decides to return to fight for the shield but firm in condemning the racism of all @valenciacf in all its forms.
𝗡𝗢 𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗠𝗢 # JuntsAnemAMUNT # AllToPlayFor
- Valencia CF 🦇🍊🌊 (@valenciacf) April 4, 2021
About half an hour into the game, Diakhaby, a 24-year-old French central defender, jumped in a fight for a ball with Cala inside the area.
The ball went to goalkeeper Jaume Doménech on his way out.
Diakha and Cala collided and, as Cala left, both players exchanged words.
The defender Valencia, as if driven by a spring, abandoned his position, neglecting his duties and went like a shot to look for Cala, who had returned to his post, while the game continued.
Between Fali, the other center-back of the Andalusian eleven, and Valencia forward Kevin Gameiro held Diakha, who was looking for Cala.
The Catalan referee Medié Jiménez, who did not see the action, stopped the game and admonished the Valencia defender.
Diakhaby, beside himself, assured the referee that Cala had called him a "shitty nigger", as recorded in the minutes.
After the struggle on the field, Gabriel Paulista and the captain, Gayà told coach Javi Gracia that they were going to the changing rooms.
The Cádiz defender denied the racist insult.
CAD
two
-
one
VAL
Cádiz Jeremias Ledesma, Luis Espino, Fali, Cala (Marcos Mauro, min. 45), Isaac, Perea (Iván Alejo, min. 61), José Mari, Salvi, Jens Jonsson, Jairo Izquierdo (Pombo, min. 78) and Negredo ( Malbasic, min. 73) ValenciaJaume, Mouctar Diakhaby (Hugo Guillamón, min. 29), Gabriel Paulista, Thierry Correia (Yunus Musah, min. 88), Gayá, Carlos Soler, Alex Blanco (Cheryshev, min. 72), Uros Racic , Wass (Manu Vallejo, min. 72), Gonçalo Guedes and Gameiro (Patrick Cutrone, min. 88)
Goals1-0 min.
13: Cove.
1-1 min.
18: Gameiro.
2-1 min.
87: Marcos Mauro.
Referee David Medié Jiménez Yellow cards Salvi (min. 22), Cala (min. 25), Mouctar Diakhaby (min. 29) and Gabriel Paulista (min. 48)
Valencia had the opportunity for Diakhaby - devastated in the stands throughout the second half - to tell what happened, but after the game, captain José Luis Gayà and coach Javi Gracia spoke.
“Diakhaby told us that he had been insulted.
We totally condemn racism.
We were going to go with our player, but they told us that we had to leave because they took three points and some more from us.
Diakha has authorized us to play, without that we would not have done it ”, explained Gayà.
"They told us that we would either go out or lose, but we did it because Diakhaby asked us to," insisted the captain.
“It is sunk.
I am not going to say what you have been told, but you have told us that you have heard a very ugly insult.
I am completely sure that Cala has said something to him ”, he added.
Then Gracia intervened.
“We told the referee that we were not continuing.
In the dressing room they have informed us of the sanction that we could receive if we did not return.
So we discussed it with Diakha, who told us that he was not here to play, but that he understood that we had to go back to avoid the penalty ”, explained the coach;
“If my player had told us not to play, we would have.
I take this opportunity to condemn racism ”.
Valencia issued a statement condemning the refereeing attitude: “Diakhaby today has become another victim of racism in football.
After suffering an intolerable racist insult, he has still seen the yellow card for protesting.
We are proud of the support Diakhaby has received from his teammates and of the decision to leave the field en bloc.
We trust that this event will be investigated.
To our disappointment, no decision was made.
The club at no time urges its players to return to the pitch.
The referee conveys to the players the potential consequences of not returning to the field of play.
The players, forced to play under threat of penalty after the racist insults and the yellow card to Diakhaby, decide to return to the field of play ”.
According to Valencia, the central defender asked his teammates to return to the pitch.
"What happened today should never happen again in football," added the club statement.
Through social networks, the Valencian Eliaquim Mangala indicated that he knows his compatriot very well and that "he would not have left the party without a reason."
"Racism should not be in football or anywhere else ... We will soon know why.
Until we know more: strength for you, brother, "he added.
I know Diakhaby well ... I would not have left the match without a reason ...
Racism must not be in football and anywhere else ... soon we will know the reasons ..
Until we know more: strength for you brother 👊 🏿 # cadizvalencia #amuntValencia
- Eliaquim Mangala (@ Elia22Mangala) April 4, 2021
Cádiz coach Álvaro Cervera defended his footballer: “Cala told me that he had not insulted the Valencia player.
We are an honest and loyal team, and we don't do these things. "
The club itself issued a statement stating that they oppose any situation of "racism or xenophobia", but that they do not doubt the "honesty of all the members" of their squad: "They are strong defenders of the fight against racism , whose attitude has always been exemplary in all the matches that have been played ”.
Political condemnation
Far from the field of football, the president of the Valencian Generalitat, Ximo Puig, said on Twitter: “Equality and the rejection of racism.
That is the most important game.
A hug to Diakhaby.
This is their home and their land ”.
The vice mayor of Valencia and mayor of Urban Development and Renovation, Sandra Gómez, also spoke, showing her "pride" for Valencia, which, in her opinion, has "stood up" to racism.
Gómez appreciated this "historical gesture" that "will mark a before and after in the history of football."
However, the deputy mayor believes that the match "should not have continued with the racist on the field and Diakhaby in the locker room, because there are more important things than points in the classification" and this gesture "could have gone around the world" .
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