Soccer player Dani Alves of FC Barcelona has received heaps of praise after he reacted to a racist taunt from a spectator with a peeling sense humor, as in eating a protest banana.
Al Jazeera reports that while lining up a corner-kick, a fan threw the banana at Alves, which landed on the field in front of him. Without missing a beat, Alves casually picked up the banana, took a bite, and proceeded with the kick.
"We have suffered this in Spain for some time," Alves told reporters after the match. "You have to take it with a dose of humor. We aren't going to change things easily."
Alves and other dark-skinned players have experienced racism before, including one incident in January 2013 where some Real Madrid fans taunted him with chants that called him a monkey.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Back then he said fighting racism was "a lost war." Now he says, "If you don't give it importance, they don't achieve their objective."
Not long after Alves ate the banana, Sergio Agüero of Premier League club Manchester City showed solidarity with his fellow South American colleague by tweeting a picture of himself eating a banana to his 5.4 million followers. He included the hashtag "#NoToRacism."
Soon enough other players and fans joined in, tweeting pictures of themselves enjoying a dose of potassium.
FC Barcelona ultimately won the match 3-2 after coming from behind in a dramatic win for the team.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.