Racism incidents continue to take place in La Liga as Sevilla’s defender Marcos Acuna along with his coaching staff became the latest victim during the club’s 1-0 win against Getafe on Saturday.
Acuna and Sevilla’s coaching staff were the target of "racist and xenophobic insults” from the fans as match referee Iglesias Villanueva intervened and stopped the play in the 68th minute following La Liga’s protocol against racism.
Sevilla and La Liga condemned the shameful act in separate press releases as the sporting body vowed to continue its battle against racism in the league.
"We condemn the racist and xenophobic insults suffered by Marcos Acuna and our coaching staff," Sevilla said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
"There is no place for racist or hateful behaviour in sport. La Liga vehemently condemns any racist act and will continue to work to eradicate this inexcusable behaviour from our sport,” La Liga said in another statement.
Sevilla’s head coach Quique Sanchez Flores opened up on the insults saying he was called “gypsy” by the fans.
"First, I want to say that I am proud of every pore in my veins that can breathe gypsy. But it's one thing to be a gypsy and another to use it as a racist insult. I find it abhorrent," said Sanchez.
"Serious action needs to be taken, our players have suffered as well, I am against any racist chanting."
Real Madrid’s star Vinicius Jr, who has been the victim of racial abuse on several occasions in the league, came out in support of Acuna and Sevilla’s coaching staff.
The Brazilian will not feature in Los Blancos’ league match against Athletic Club on Sunday after accumulating five yellow cards which resulted in a one-match suspension.
"This weekend, I won't even play. But we had three despicable cases of racism in Spain this Saturday alone," he posted on social media.
"Racists must be exposed and matches cannot continue with them in the stands. We will only have victory when the racists leave the stadiums and go straight to jail, the place they deserve."