The beautiful game can occasionally turn ugly, and on Sunday it showed its unflattering side as one black player left the pitch in tears after being racially abused by supporters.
This unfortunate incident occurred in Serbia, a place marred with racial abuse. Partizan Belgrade traveled to local rivals Rad Belgrade, with Everton Luiz receiving abuse from the home supporters.
Monkey chants were directed at the Brazilian midfielder every time he touched the ball. Late on in the game, a banner insulting Everton was held in the stands.
The 28-year-old midfielder was caught on camera responding to the abuse with a one-finger gesture. This response, however, sparked anger from the Rad Belgrade players, with a brawl following.
After the tension decreased, and the players separated, Luiz could be seen leaving the pitch in tears. After the game, which Partizan won 1-0, the Brazilian admitted that he was disgusted by the actions of both the fans and the players whom he clashed with.
"I couldn't hold back the tears as I had to face racist insults from the terraces for 90 minutes,” said Everton Luiz (as per Yahoo Sports).
"I was even more shocked by the attitude of opposing players who, instead of calming things down, backed this behavior.”
After the game, Partizan coach Marko Nikolic admitted that Luiz would face disciplinary for his gesture towards the abusive supporters, but demanded those fans be punished.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
This match was not broadcast in United States
International Coverage:
Croatia: Klik SPORT
Montenegro: Arena Sport 1 Serbia, Klik SPORT
North Macedonia: Arena Sport 1 Serbia, Klik SPORT
Serbia:
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
