Football
ESPN staff 8y

Barcelona's Neymar didn't suffer racist chants, says Espanyol president

Espanyol's president has denied claims that Barcelona star Neymar was the target of racial abuse from club supporters during the Catalan derby between the two sides over the weekend.

Andrea Iniesta told reporters after the game that he had heard racist chanting "in one corner, in the first half, from one supporter."

During the match, former Barca vice president Toni Freixa, who is no longer at the club, wrote about the abuse on his personal Twitter account -- saying he hoped referee Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez would officially record what had happened so that official action could be taken.

"I hope that the racist chants at Neymar are included in the referee's report," the tweet said.

However, the referee made no mention of any misconduct from the crowd in his official report.

In quotes that appeared in AS, Espanyol chief Joan Collet called the accusations a lie on Sunday, saying that he was at the stadium and heard nothing.

"I was there, just like 30,000 people and nothing happened," Collet said. "The whole thing blows up for one shout, but there was nothing generalised, it's a lie.

"It was a high-risk game and there weren't any incidents. The attitude of the fans was admirable. It was a game we can feel proud about and it makes us very excited about the future."

Collet then fired back at criticism of his side's aggressive tactics against their bitter rival.

"It's a disgrace that the usual suspects here start up the nationalist pro-Barcelona machinery. I've not heard anything from the Barca players or the coach, but I have from all the usual suspects," he added.

"When something happens they bring out the topic of violence and it's a disgrace. It's a lie that we were violent. Every time they don't win it's the same commentary.

"Only a few see this violence and they try and justify not winning. It was a normal game and I think the referee was spot on and didn't see any sending-off offences."

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