February 17 – Yet another top-flight footballer has walked off the pitch in protest at being racially abused with monkey chants.
Porto forward Moussa Marega quit midway through his side’s win at Vitoria Guimaraes at the weekend, after being targeted by home fans.
Nine minutes after scoring the what would prove the winner in a 2-1 victory, the Mali forward walked off, pointing his thumbs down and raising his middle fingers to the crowd.
Team-mates, staff and opposition players tried to persuade him to stay on but he pushed everyone aside on his way to the tunnel and was eventually substituted.
In an Instagram post afterwards, Marega wrote: “I would just like to tell these idiots who come to the stadium to make racist chants, go f… yourself. I hope I never see you on a football field again. You are a disgrace!
And he blasted the referee for cautioning him for the way he reacted to being abused.
“And I also thank the referees for not defending me and for giving me a yellow card because I defend my skin colour,” he wrote. “I hope I never see you on a football field again! YOU ARE A SHAME !!!!”
Porto boss Sergio Conceicao leapt to the defence of his player who spent a season on loan at Vitoria in the 2016-17 campaign, scoring 15 goals in 25 games.
“They insulted Marega since the warm up. We are all a family here, regardless of our nationality, skin colour, height or the colour of our hair and we all deserve respect,” he said. “What happened here is outrageous.
“I know the fans here are very passionate about their club and many fans are not represented by some of the people who were in the crowd today.”
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