Youth League: BVB U19 player racially abused by opponent

Borussia Dortmund staff say one of their under-19 players was once again racially abused during their UEFA Youth League clash with Sevilla on Tuesday night.

According to Dortmund U19 head coach Mike Tullberg, monkey noises and other racist insults were directed at Dortmund's Guinean midfielder Abdoulaye Kamara by Sevilla's Alejandro Vazquez, in a repeat of a similar incident during the first meeting between the two teams in Andalusia last week.

"There were the same insults and monkey noises as last week," Tullberg told the local Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper. "A paramedic heard it and confirmed it. I brought it to the attention of the assistant referee. But the referee says he didn't hear anything and it's his word against mine."

After Italian referee Luca Pairetto dismissed Tullberg's accusations, he took the matter to the UEFA official on duty during the game who seemed to further downplay the issue.

"I couldn't believe it, but a UEFA official actually started discussing with me how a monkey sounds and what a monkey says. It was unbelievable," Tullberg said.

"I didn't think the reaction of the referees was okay. How are we going to prove that there were insults?"

A day later, Dortmund's academy director Lars Ricken said in a statement on social media that he was still "bewildered" by what had happened. Ricken added that he had spoken to the referee before the game and that they had agreed should the situation arise, the game would be interrupted.

Kamara, 17, was later substituted at halftime to avoid further complications as he already received a yellow card. Dortmund went on to win 2-0, their first win of the tournament.

Fan protest barred

UEFA Youth League games are generally played hours before the senior teams play their Champions League matches.

Ahead of Dortmund's senior Group G game against Sevilla, Ballspiel.Vereint, an anti-discrimination fan initiative, said it was denied the opportunity to bring in a banner of support for Kamara into the game.

The banner with the words, "Solidarity with Kamara! Against Racism" was written in both German and Spanish.

"In the first leg of the Youth League, our youth player Kamara was racially insulted by players from Sevilla. As a reaction to this, this banner was to be displayed during the second leg in Brackel today. However, the banner was banned by Uefa," the group tweeted.

SID Journalist Thomas Nowag tweeted that Dortmund have filed a complaint with UEFA about the incident.

Repeat occurrence

Following the first incident in Spain last week, the match had been interrupted for several minutes.

"At half-time, we decided together with the lads that we wanted to play on," Tullberg said.

The match ended 1-1 and Borussia Dortmund filed a complaint with UEFA about the incident, but Tullberg said: "The result today is secondary because we’re once again stood here talking about racist remarks made by opposition players."

Tullberg was also referring to a youth cup game away at Energie Cottbus in September during which Borussia Dortmund players were also reportedly the target of racist abuse.

"Next time, we will leave the pitch," academy director Ricken, a Champions League winner with the club in 1997, had said. "And not after a second or third in incident; the first time."

How to respond to racism?

But on Tuesday night, the players again decided they wanted to continue, and the debate around how to respond to racist incidents in football continues.

"We don't know exactly what was said in the dressing room, maybe it was Kamera's explicit wish to continue," wrote leading Dortmund fanzine Schwatzgelb.de last week.

"But it still leaves a bitter aftertaste. It's debatable whether young players, who are part of a system of constant pressure and selection, should be left to make such decisions. They will all have been aware that it could affect their dream of becoming professional footballers. The Youth League is a huge stage.

"Shouldn’t it be up to the club to decide to walk off, regardless of potential sporting consequences? Partly to protect the players, but also to convey the message that no matter important a game might be, it can never be more important than certain values?

"As good as it sounds: there is no sporting answer to racism."

Edited by Matt Ford