‘I’m proud to be so’… Barcelona defender breaks his silence after facing racist insults in the match against Getafe | OneFootball

Following an incredible 7-1 win over Valencia in their last La Liga game, FC Barcelona are set to return to action in the UEFA Champions League with a match against Atalanta, which will conclude the League Phase for them.

As is the custom, a Blaugrana player addressed the press ahead of the upcoming UCL game, and this time, the responsibility to face the journalists fell to the young fullback Alejandro Balde, who has been in sublime form lately.

The La Masia graduate talked about different aspects of the upcoming game against Atalanta in this presser. But in addition to the game, another subject that he touched upon was that of the racist insults he faced in the recent game against Getafe, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

As SPORT has reported, despite facing discriminatory chants from the Madrid club’s stadium, Balde did not want to generalise the whole of the club as racist:

“The situation was complicated, I don’t know what to say. Because of three or four people insulting you, you shouldn’t generalize or tarnish the image because of this.”

The Barcelona defender went on to express pride in his ethnic background while ensuring that such insults do not really affect him:

“We must point out those responsible. These insults don’t affect me; I mentioned it because it happened. If they call me black… I am black, and I’m proud to be so. The captain of Getafe is black… there’s nothing more to say.”

The situation Balde faced in Getafe must have been a difficult one for the defender, despite his insistence that he does not get affected by such insults. Hopefully, La Liga will take effective action against the involved offenders to ensure that such incidents do not take place in the future, especially since such incidents have increased in frequency over the last few months.