Racism once again takes center stage in the Spanish fields, and not only after the sentence announced this Thursday against a Mallorca fan for insults to Vinicius and Chukwueze, Real Madrid and Villarreal players in February 2023, but because the Getafe footballer Christantus Uche (Nigeria, 21 years old) denounced racist insults this Wednesday in an interview with ESPN Africa. “Some fans have called me ‘fucking black’ in two or three games and the referees don’t say anything,” he said. However, the president of Getafe, Ángel Torres, was against the player last night after the match against FC Barcelona. “He was wrong. What he will have to do is not speak, he does not understand Spanish,” he stated.
Uche arrived at Getafe this summer from Ceuta, a Primera RFEF club, for 500,000 euros and signed a four-year contract for the blue club. The Nigerian, in just two years, has made an incredible leap in quality. He started in 2022 in the Moralo quarry, an Extremaduran club that competes in the Tercera RFEF; Later he signed for Ceuta for 800 euros and, this summer, he made his debut as a starter for Getafe against Athletic Club in San Mamés, where he even scored the tying goal that helped José Bordalás’ team earn a point. Since then, he has started every game.
In the preview of the match against Barcelona this Wednesday, ESPN Africa published an interview with the footballer where he analyzed the player’s first steps in LaLiga. Uche feels unprotected and declared that the referees in Spain “are very bad.” “They kick me and the referee just says I have to get up. But if they kick another person, the referee whistles for it. It is very painful and you can’t do anything,” he noted. “You can’t do anything because the referee has the power to do whatever he wants. “They have to stop this.”
Ángel Torres did not defend the player. He said that if he doesn’t understand Spanish, how could he say that. “Let him say what he wants, I hope the Committee understands it and that it is just a warning,” commented the club president. “It is not justified that I have to speak badly about the referees or anyone,” Torres concluded. However, the argument he gives that he does not understand Spanish is not justified, since the Nigerian gives an interview in English and pronounces that same “fucking black” phrase in Spanish. Some Getafe fans have shown their disagreement with Torres’ comments this Thursday. From Getafe they have declared to EL PAÍS that there is nothing more to talk about this issue.
