Dani Alves, the soccer star who plays for FC Barcelona, ate a banana that was thrown at him by a racist fan during his game against Villarreal on Sunday.
Alves, a defender, was walking over to a corner flag to take a corner kick when a banana was thrown down on the field beside him. The quick-thinking player picked up the banana, peeled it and took a bite before serving the ball in front of the goal. Alves, keeping his clam, didn’t miss a beat.
The Brazilian-born player has grown accustomed to racial abuse during his career in Spain. Dodging bananas and listening to monkey chants have become somewhat par for the course for Alves, who won’t let the ignorance affect his game.
"I've been dealing with the same thing in Spain for the past 11 years," he told Spanish daily Marca. "You have to laugh at these idiots."
Alves’ teammates and other soccer players have shown solidarity in the aftermath of the highly-publicized act of racism. Neymar, who also plays with Alves on the Brazilian national team, tweeted, "Dani Alves owned him. Take That bunch of Racists. We are all Monkeys So What."
"Utterly brilliant reaction from Alves," tweeted former England International Gary Lineker. "Treat the racist berk with complete disdain."
Utterly brilliant reaction from Alves. Treat the racist berk with complete disdain!
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 27, 2014
Villarreal, for its part, condemned the act and has issued the fan a lifetime ban from the team's stadium.
Villarreal issue life ban to fan who threw banana at Barcelona's Dani Alves #SSN
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 28, 2014
– Chelsea Regan
"I'm so thankful to [Mulaney] for the nights he spent researching what every operation and…
Ramaswamy, who was born in the United States, challenged Coulter's stance and asked, “On that…
The comments were made during the fourth week of Trump's hush money trial, where he faces…
Prior to her discussion with Goldberg, Clarkson had revealed to People in January that she…
Costner maintained that he fulfilled his contractual obligations, dedicated 25 days to Season 5 and…
In an October 2016 interview conducted shortly after the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape,…