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Following the recent Vinicius Junior-Gianluca Prestianni case, a second La Liga player has now accused a fellow professional of racist abuse. The alleged incident took place at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, where Elche and Espanyol played out a 2-2 draw on Sunday afternoon.
In the second half, the match was stopped after Omar El Hilali informed referee Iosu Galech Apezteguía that an anti-immigrant slur had been directed at him by Rafa Mir. As per Diario AS, the incident was noted in the referee report that was published post-match.
“In the 78th minute, RCD Espanyol’s number 23 player, Omar el Hilali, told me that Elche’s number 10, Rafael Mir Vicente, addressed him in the following terms: “you came in a boat”, which could not be heard by any of the members of the refereeing team. Consequently, I proceeded to activate the protocol against racism, which is why the match was stopped for 3 minutes.”
Image via Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images
La Liga will now open an investigation into the matter, given that they have received the referee’s report and minutes. They will seek to analyse the testimonies of players and coaches, both affected and witnesses of what happened. In addition, the images and recordings of the match will be used to analyse the incident between El Hilali and Mir.
Manolo Gonzalez reacts – “It is a racist insult”
After the match, Espanyol head coach Manolo Gonzalez stood fully behind El Hilali when speaking to the media.
“I understand that it is a racist insult. Omar had never stopped a game; I understand that it will be true. I’m not sure what happened, but from what I’ve understood it’s Rafa Mir who says something to him. The referee told us that he applied the anti-racist protocol.
“Just as racism must come out of football and society, not only that: all insults. We focus on racism and it’s very important, but there are a lot of insults in football that need to be eliminated. They cause very unpleasant situations.”