Soccer player left in tears after racist abuse from fans

Everton Luiz of Partizan Belgrade left the field in tears Sunday after he played an entire game before a crowd that hurled racist insults at him.

His team won over Rad this weekend in the Serbian league. A racist banner was raised in the stands where Rad fans were standing, according to a CBS news report.

There was some physical scuffling between teams, and at one point Luiz raised his middle finger to Rad supporters, as can be seen below just after the 0:20 mark.

Luiz’s teammates comforted him as he left the pitch in an emotional moment.

Reuters published the following statement from him:

“My family and I feel at home in Serbia and this is why I could not stop the tears after the game. I took 90 minutes of racist abuse and other insults from the terraces and thereafter I found myself in a cauldron of emotionless individuals who charged at me when they should have protected me. I want to forget this, refocus on football and urge everyone to say ‘No’ to racism.”

Monday, the Serbian Football Association suspended Rad’s Belgrade stadium because of the racist behavior. This means no more games can be played there until the situation is resolved.

Racism in soccer is nothing new. Argentina fans at the 2014 World Cup were arrested for shouting racial slurs, in just one of many incidents. There is even evidence of bias in officiating, in Major League Soccer and all over the world.

In a FIFPro Black Book survey taken in 2012, almost nine percent of respondents reported experiencing racism, about 65 percent of which came from fans.

The incidents in Serbia were reportedly particularly nasty.

Notably in 2012, Serbian fans shouted monkey insults at English players, and Serbia’s coach was slow to apologize or even acknowledge an issue, according to ESPN.

Danny Rose, at the time on loan at English Premier League side Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur, reported having stones thrown at him by the crowd.

Similar incidents occurred in 2007 as well, but this type of treatment dates all the way back to the 1980s.