Cheikh Sarr, the Senegalese goalkeeper of Rayo Majadahonda expelled at the weekend in Sestao for going up to the stands to confront the fan who was insulting him with racist terms, spoke this morning at a press conference to give his version of what happened: ” If they sanction me I will be very surprised. It would be unfair because I am the victim. What is happening bothers me a lot. You are the victim and you are the one who has to go out and apologize to the world of football, but I do it for the image of football, because it is the right thing to do and you have to be respectful.” The goalkeeper could be suspended between four and eight games, which will be known tomorrow.
Sarr remained very calm in his appearance, in very correct Spanish: “If it happened to me again, I wouldn’t react the same. Now I know how to react better. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. They insulted me again, but as a joke, “What happened with Sestao was horrible. I couldn’t stand it.”
The footballer denied that he had any intention of attacking the referee: “My act with the referee was not aggressive. I went to talk to him and ask him why he had given me the red card. I repeat, I think that before sending me off he should first ask the victim and then, if anything, sanction.”
And he added: “The referee couldn’t hear anything that happened because he was in the middle of the field while they were insulting me, calling me a fucking nigger and things like that. After the game we did meet to talk about what happened and I’m grateful to him.” .
The goalkeeper of Rayo Majadahonda assured that “the insults in Sestao are the worst thing that has happened to me in Spain. When I jumped at the person who insulted me, my intention was to ask him why he did it. To find out if that person has a family. He was an older person and I think he had a boy. And he should be an example for him.”
The player showed his gratitude to all the people who have shown solidarity with him these days, including some Sestao players. Several of them have come to talk to me. I appreciate his words, really. I also appreciate Vinícius’s defense. There are many players like him who are fighting against racism and I appreciate what he has done,” he highlighted.
He also had kind words for his club’s psychologist: “She’s helping me a lot. When that ended I didn’t realize anything. I didn’t know where I was or what had happened around me. I haven’t been on social media much these days to to be a little isolated from what’s going on.
Asked if he believes that what happened to him will help in the fight against racism in sport in Spain, Sarr thought about the answer: “I think so. I don’t know how people are going to react, but I think so,” he said.
