The reported incident occurred during Cadiz’s match against Valencia at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza last Sunday.
Cala thinks it looks like he’s living in the west
Cadiz defender Juan Cala has pointedly denied racism accusations against him by Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby. The reported incident occurred during Cadiz’s match against Valencia at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza last Sunday. Los Che’s players were leaving the pitch after being informed by Diakhaby about what was said. Later the match resumed, but without Diakhaby. “It looks like we are in the West,” Cala said during a press conference on Tuesday. “I don’t know what happened to the presumption of innocence. Nobody deserves this public lynching. Here is my phone number to at least apologise. The 31-year-old seemed baffled by the accusations made by Diakhaby. “I don’t know if Diakhaby made it up if he misinterpreted it? I don’t know,” said Cala. “I’ve lived with Chinese, South Africans. I’ve been in Guinea with Frederic Kanoute and Benjamin Zarandona.”
The defender is ready to meet with Diakhaby
“It’s incredible what’s going on. I’m in a state of shock. We play football without a crowd. There are 20-25 cameras, microphones, players, referees. And no one hears anything.” Cala made it clear that immediately after the match, he was ready to go out and deal with the situation, but the president of Cadiz Manuel Vizcaino didn’t allow him to. “As soon as the match was over, I told the president that I wanted to go out and speak about what had happened,” he stated. “He tells me that I have already been sentenced. At 8 a.m., I told him again that I wanted to go out and talk. I went out to talk when Cadiz said so.”
“Since Sunday, my lawyer has been collecting data to start a lawsuit. But I got messages from everywhere with a lot of support because I have been the target of a lynching right now.” Cala also said he would be ready to meet with Diakhaby. “There is no racism in Spanish football,” he commented. “I have no problem sitting down with him. What has developed is a circus.”