A Spanish team goalkeeper has been suspended for two games after he clambered up into the stands to confront a fan reportedly shouting racist slurs he called "horrible" and "ugly."
"I just wanted to ask why," Cheikh Sarr, the 23-year-old goalie for Rayo Majadahonda, later told reporters.
The confrontation occurred Saturday near the end of the match between Sarr's team and the local Sestao River Club in northern Spain. Sarr, born in Senegal, suddenly raced to the stands after he said he heard racial slurs directed at him.
Sarr said he was triggered when he spotted the elderly man he confronted join in with a group of fans mocking his skin color and making monkey gestures.
"Other times it could be seen as something playful or a joke. However, this was not the case on Saturday, as it was something horrible and I could not stop myself. It was a very sad and ugly thing that they were saying," said the goalie.
"I grabbed him and asked why he [the elderly fan] was insulting me. My attitude was not aggressive, I just wanted to ask him why," added Sarr, who later apologized for what he called an "overreaction."
The match was suspended in the 84th minute after the referee sent off Sarr, and his teammates walked off the field in protest, forfeiting the game. The referee said he was too far from the stands to hear insults.
Officials for the opposing Sestao club insisted in a statement that there were no slurs.
Ugly racist taunting has become an increasing problem at soccer games in Europe, most notably lately in Spain.
Soccer star Vinícius Júnior broke down in tears last month when asked about a barrage of racist abuse from sports fans while playing in LaLiga. He said he was considering leaving the country. But he noted that would "give the racists exactly what they want."
He also spoke out on social media last Saturday against three "dispicable acts of racism" directed at athletes, including Sarr's experience.
