عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Getafe-Sevilla Game Marred by Racist Slurs against Marcos Acuña and Coach Sánchez Flores

Sevilla head coach Quique Sánchez Flores gestures during the Spanish LaLiga soccer match between Getafe CF and Sevilla CF in Madrid, Spain, 30 March 2024. (EPA)
Sevilla head coach Quique Sánchez Flores gestures during the Spanish LaLiga soccer match between Getafe CF and Sevilla CF in Madrid, Spain, 30 March 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

Getafe-Sevilla Game Marred by Racist Slurs against Marcos Acuña and Coach Sánchez Flores

Sevilla head coach Quique Sánchez Flores gestures during the Spanish LaLiga soccer match between Getafe CF and Sevilla CF in Madrid, Spain, 30 March 2024. (EPA)
Sevilla head coach Quique Sánchez Flores gestures during the Spanish LaLiga soccer match between Getafe CF and Sevilla CF in Madrid, Spain, 30 March 2024. (EPA)

Getafe’s home game against Sevilla was paused when fans targeted Sevilla’s Marcos Acuña with racial insults in the Spanish league on Saturday. Sevilla coach Quique Sánchez Flores said he also was abused racially by supporters of his former club.

Referee Javier Iglesias halted the game in the 68th minute when Acuña, a world champion with Argentina, was insulted by fans, including calling him a “monkey," according to the match report.

The game was restarted after the spectators were informed by loudspeaker to refrain from racist or xenophobic language. Iglesias did not record any more incidents.

But Sánchez Flores confirmed after the match his Roma heritage was insulted. Sánchez Flores has coached Getafe on three occasions.

“I am proud of every pore in my body that breathes Roma, but one thing is to be Roma and another is to be insulted for it,” Sánchez Flores said. “There are some fans who think they can say anything they want at a stadium. It is happening in every stadium.

“We are workers who come here to work in peace and be respected. It is an aberration that in these times when we are advancing in so many ways that (these individuals) grab us and pull us backwards.”

Sevilla, which beat Getafe 1-0, denounced the insults to its player and coach.

A third-division game between Sestao River and Rayo Majadahonda was also suspended in the final minutes after the goalkeeper of the visiting side was sent off after he confronted a fan who allegedly racially insulted him.

Rayo goalie Cheikh Sarr, who is Black, was issued a red card after he approached the stands behind his net.

His club said on Twitter it would not continue the game “after the unacceptable racist insults toward our player.”

The incidents came four days after Spain played Brazil in Madrid in a friendly that was set up to highlight the fight against racism after insults aimed at Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinícius Júnior.

Vinícius posted a message on his X account showing his support for Acuña, Sánchez Flores and Sarr.

“We had three despicable cases of racism in Spain this Saturday,” he wrote. “The racists should be expelled and games should not continue with them in the stands. We will only achieve victory when these racists are taken out of the stadiums and straight into prison, the place where they belong.”

Vinícius has been highly critical of the inability of soccer authorities to take effective action to protect him and other players.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Amber Glenn Defends Her Title at US Figure Skating Championships as Alysa Liu Falters Late

Amber Glenn celebrates on the medal podium after skating in the Championship Women Free Skate during the Prevagen US Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena on January 24, 2025 in Wichita, Kansas. (Getty Images/AFP)
Amber Glenn celebrates on the medal podium after skating in the Championship Women Free Skate during the Prevagen US Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena on January 24, 2025 in Wichita, Kansas. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Amber Glenn Defends Her Title at US Figure Skating Championships as Alysa Liu Falters Late

Amber Glenn celebrates on the medal podium after skating in the Championship Women Free Skate during the Prevagen US Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena on January 24, 2025 in Wichita, Kansas. (Getty Images/AFP)
Amber Glenn celebrates on the medal podium after skating in the Championship Women Free Skate during the Prevagen US Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena on January 24, 2025 in Wichita, Kansas. (Getty Images/AFP)

Amber Glenn was disappointed but not defeated after her short program at the US Figure Skating Championships, the reigning champion defiantly vowing to "go on the attack" when she returned to the ice for the free skate on Friday night.

She did exactly that, beginning with a powerful triple axel to start the program and ending with an elegant layback spin.

The 25-year-old from Plano, Texas, wound up with 216.79 points, enough to edge out Alysa Liu, who had led after the short program but made a couple of small mistakes in her free skate that proved to be just big enough. The two-time national champion, in the midst of a comeback from a two-year retirement, finished right behind Glenn with 215.33 points.

"I wasn't feeling my absolute best and today, being able to not fully lock in but for the most part get into the zone I needed to be, I'm very proud of my mental fortitude and the progress I've made," Glenn said.

Two-time champion Bradie Tennell, who was second after the short program, struggled through a fall on her triple lutz in her free skate and was passed for third by Sarah Everhardt, an 18-year-old rising star from Haymarket, Virginia.

Glenn rolled into nationals unbeaten for the season, becoming the first American woman to win the Grand Prix Final in nearly 15 years along the way. But after her uneven short program, Glenn was left in third place and trailing Liu by nearly six points.

Her opening triple axel may have been the best of her career, and it set the tone for the rest of her night. Glenn landed six more triple jumps, including three in combination, before her only real mistake — a fall on her triple loop late in the program.

"I still don't believe I won," Glenn said. "It's a real shock to me."

Liu, the youngest US champion ever when she triumphed at the age of 13, was trying to add a third title five years after winning her last. But a couple of errors, including a mistake on her layback spin at the end, may have cost her the gold.

"I did not think I won," she said with a laugh. "I honestly didn't know if I would medal or not."

Earlier in the night, two-time defending ice dance world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates pranced their way through three decades of popular American music and into a big lead after the rhythm dance portion of their competition.

Chock and Bates scored 92.16 points, nearly 10 more than second-place Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. To put that into context, second through fourth places were separated by less than a point, with the pair of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik scoring the exact same — 82.13 points — as Caroline Green and Michael Parsons.

Chock and Bates were not available after their performance because she was dealing with a food-related stomach bug.

They are going for their fourth straight national title and sixth overall, which would tie the US record held by Meryl Davis and Charlie White. And this one would come 11 years after Chock and Bates first stepped atop the podium.

The ice dance finale is Saturday, when world champion Ilia Malinin also will be in action during the men’s short program.

The proscribed style for the rhythm dance this season is "social dances and styles of the 1950s, ‘60s and ’70s," and while many teams chose to dance to Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra or disco fare, the avant-garde Chock and Bates chose to take their fans on a rollicking journey through all three decades of American popular culture.

There was music from "Hawaii Five-O" and a version of "Let’s Twist Again." Chock and Bates did the "Watusi with Lucy" and spent time "Stayin’ Alive" with the Bee Gees. And of course, they had the Village People leading the arena in doing the "YMCA."

The performance underscored their status as favorites heading into the world championships in March in Boston.

They're probably the favorites heading into the Winter Olympics next year in Milan, too.

Carreira and Ponomarenko scored 82.86 points for their cheeky, fun nod to 1950s sock hops. The reigning silver medalists made a small mistake on their twizzle but scored big on their choreographed rhythm sequence to land in second place.

Zingas and Kolesnik, who were fourth a couple of years ago, turned heads with their medley of music by the Bee Gees, and Green and Parsons managed the same score — a rarity in a sport in which there are so many variables — but were slotted into fourth place because they lost to Zingas and Kolesnik in the technical score.

"We're happy to be here and we’ve worked really hard in the time we’ve had since our last competition," Zingas said, "and I think that showed. We were happy to skate and just really enjoyed our performance."