Barcelona have defended Lionel Messi against accusations he addressed a racial term at Royston Drenthe.
Drenthe, who is currently on loan at Everton from Real Madrid, claims Messi called him a "negro" repeatedly during his time in Spain.
Barcelona have dismissed the claims and praised Messi's character.
"The player has always shown maximum respect and sportsmanship towards his rivals, something recognised by fellow professionals," a spokesman said.
"We are sure that any accusations to the contrary are well wide of the mark."
Drenthe, 25, has spent this season, the final year of his Real Madrid contract, on loan at Goodison Park but he has been excluded from David Moyes' squad in recent weeks for disciplinary reasons.
He joined Real from Feyenoord in 2007 and spent last season on loan with Spanish side Hercules.
In an interview with Dutch magazine Helden, Drenthe says he clashed with world player of the year Messi, 24, during his time with Hercules.
He has also accused former Real team-mates Gabriel Heinze and Gonzalo Higuain of using similar language on the training ground.
"I played against [Messi] many times and we always have problems with each other," Drenthe said.
"You know what bothers me so? That tone with which he always says, 'negro, negro'. I understand that negro in South America is very common, but we cannot stand it.
"When Hercules played Barcelona, during the game I had a small altercation with him. He gave me a hand in the match and again said a few times, 'hola negro'.
"Mahamadou Diarra, my team-mate at Real, could explode if 'negro' was aimed at him. The Argentinean Gabriel Heinze and Gonzalo Higuain said it initially on the training ground, but they were stopped."
No comments:
Post a Comment