Fan arrested for alleged ‘monkey chants and gestures’ towards Wolves star Adama Traore against Espanyol
POLICE have arrested a 24-year-old man for racist abuse allegedly aimed at Wolves winger Adama Traore.
Wolves beat Espanyol 4-0 in their first leg of the Europa League last-32 but the evening was spoiled by the actions of the Espanyol fan.
West Midlands Police released a statement, saying: “We’ve arrested a 24-year-old man from Spain on suspicion of racially aggravated abuse following chanting at the Wolves v Espanyol match yesterday.
“He remains in police custody for questioning.
“Any form of discrimination is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
The Express and Star reported that “monkey noises and gestures” were aimed at Traore but Uefa’s three-step protocol to deal with racist incidents at games was not enforced by the referee.
Wolves have one foot in the last-16 of the Europa League thanks to Diego Jota’s hat-trick helped seal an emphatic win over the Spanish side.
This incident comes after Porto’s Moussa Marega was subject to vile abuse from Vitoria fans.
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Marega, who scored the winner in a 2-1 victory, told the Vitoria fans to “go f*** yourself” before he left the pitch.
The Malian then took to social media to condemn the actions of home supporters.
The striker wrote on Instagram: “I would just like to tell these idiots who come to the stadium to make racist [chants]… go f*** yourself.
“And I also thank the referees for not defending me and for giving me a yellow card because I defend my skin colour.
“I hope I never see you on a football field again! YOU ARE SHAMEFUL!!!!”
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Team-mates tried to stop Marega from leaving the pitch in what appeared to be a lack of support for their own player.
Earlier in the month, a 17-year-old Bournemouth fan was banned from football for three years after pleading guilty to chanting racist abuse.
In Scotland, a 12-year-old boy was charged over “racist chants” allegedly aimed at Rangers star Alfredo Morelos.