Valencia centre-back Mouctar Diakhaby has given his version of events after last weekend’s high-profile incident, which saw Los Che‘s players walk off the pitch at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza after Cadiz defender Juan Cala allegedly made a racist comment towards the Frenchman.
The match was eventually resumed but it continued without Diakhaby, who was replaced by Hugo Guillamon and then watched the remainder of the game from the stands.
“After two days I’m very calm and I want to talk about what happened in Cadiz on Sunday,” Diakhaby said in a video recorded at his home with the title ‘Shi**y black’ on Instagram.
“There is an incident where a player insults me and the words are ‘shi**y black’.
“That is intolerable and I can’t allow that, and you have all seen my reaction. That can’t happen in normal life and above all in football, which is a sport of respect.”
Diakhaby also revealed that after they got into the dressing room, a Cadiz player suggested to a Valencia teammate that they should return to the pitch if Cala apologised.
“After that, and my teammates and I decided to go to the dressing room, [we decided] that it was a good decision and then a player of theirs said to a player of ours that if Cala apologised, we would go back on the pitch,” he continued.
“And my teammates and I said no, that’s not the way things go; you can’t do something and make excuses and let it go. I feel good today, it hurt me a lot, it’s life.”
The 24-year-old ended the video by urging LaLiga to find evidence and put an end to this sort of abuse in football.
“I hope that LaLiga will do something, take solutions to have evidence so that everything is seen and clarified and that’s it,” Diakhaby noted.
“I want to thank Valencia CF, my teammates, the coaches, the love and solidarity they have given me and the fans. I want to tell everyone that I’m fine. Thank you very much, thank you.”
