Alves complains of racist abuse at Real
Reuters - Thursday 31 January 2013, 15:13
Barcelona's Brazilian full-back Daniel Alves has complained of racist
abuse following Wednesday's King's Cup semi-final first leg at Real
Madrid and said Spain was a "lost war" when it came to tackling the
issue.
"Shame about the
result and even more shame about the racism you have in some places but
I am happy the way I am," Alves wrote on his Twitter feed after the 1-1
draw at the Bernabeu.
Quizzed
about the tweet at a post-training news conference on Thursday, Alves
called for stiffer punishments for clubs and said the English Premier
League was an example to follow.
"I know that people are fighting against this but these kinds of things keep happening," he said.
"I have been in Spain for 10 years and it has been happening since the first day.
"Drastic
measures should be taken," he added. "For example, punishing the club
more severely not just with a 1,000 euros or 2,000 euros fine.
"You
have to go a bit further. Sometimes you have to make an example. In
England it doesn't happen and when it does the punishments are
exemplary."
A spokeswoman for Real said the club had no comment to make in response to Alves's remarks.
A
Reuters reporter at the Bernabeu on Wednesday confirmed that monkey
chants had been directed several times at Alves by a significant
section of the home fans.
The
referee did not mention them in his match report, though he did refer
to a lighter thrown on to the pitch and lasers being shone at him and
some of the players.
There
have been several high-profile incidents of racism in European football
in recent weeks despite efforts by the governing body UEFA to stamp it
out.
AC Milan midfielder
Kevin-Prince Boateng led his team off the pitch during a friendly at
Italian lower division side Pro Patria earlier this month in protest at
racist chanting by the home fans and the game was abandoned.
In
Netherlands this week, racist chants were aimed at AZ Alkmaar and
United States striker Jozy Altidore during his team's match at Den
Bosch in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Cup.