Valencia went off the field halfway through the first half of Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Cadiz after defender Mouctar Diakhaby claimed to have been subjected to racial abuse by Juan Cala, only to return shortly thereafter under controversial circumstances.
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Diakhaby, who was seen crying in the tunnel, was replaced after the incident and left sitting on the bench alone while the rest of his teammates played – a decision that apparently left many fans furious.
Valencia players have left the field at Carranza?
Mouctar Diakhaby was visibly angry after a brawl with Cadiz Juan Cala and finally left the pitch with his teammates who followed him pic.twitter.com/3XKvm5Y9dc
– Premier Sports? (@PremierSportsTV) April 4, 2021Valencia scene Cadiz goes after Mouctar Diakhaby alleges racial abuse
Valencia left for Cadiz after Mouctar Diakhaby claimed he had been subjected to racial abuse.
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But after the match, many sources began to report that Valencia did not actually want to continue the game, but felt that they had no other choice after they were repeatedly threatened with punishment if they remained in the locker room.
“Diakhaby told us he heard a racist insult so we all went off the pitch,” defender Jose Gaya told Movistar (via BBC Sport). We were told that we had to play, because if we did not do that, they would remove the three points from us and maybe we would dock more points.
“Diakhaby asked us to play. We would not have done it if he had not done so. He said he was not in the right state of mind to continue playing. He is devastated.”
We offer our full support to @ Diakhaby_5
The player, who received a racial insult, requested that his teammates return to the field.
WE SUPPORT YOU MOUCTAR
?? ?? ?????? ✊? ✊? pic.twitter.com/iPtPSpdNYv
– Valencia CF ??? (@valenciacf_en) April 4, 2021
This is where everything starts to get a little ugly. Cope claims to have been confirmed by Valencia sources that it was referee Medie Jimenez who threatened punishment if they did not complete the match, but Jimenez denied all responsibility in his match report and insisted (via Marca) that both teams decided to play on themselves .
Apparently not impressed by the fact that they were accused of not standing with their teammate, Valencia released a statement on their official website shortly where they stressed that they were only returning because of the referee’s threat.
On the other side of this story, Cala was substituted at half-time in the match, and Carrusel Deportivo states that it is because he was in a state of “shock” against the accusations, which he strongly denies.
#LaPortada? ‘Ingen estás solo’ pic.twitter.com/V7CUWFSG99
– MARCA (@marca) April 4, 2021
Cadiz, which has a reputation for working to eradicate discrimination in football, later confirmed in a statement that they will continue their fight while sitting on Cala, who has his “complete confidence”.
It is an incredibly ugly situation and one that deserves a long investigation. The two sides return from the tunnel with Diakhaby alone and cry on the bench for unpleasant viewing, and it felt like the opportunity to send a message was missed.
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