The Neymar-Gonzalez saga continues to drag on and the latest is a show of support from Marseille backing their player.
If you thought the Neymar-Gonzalez story would die down soon.
The last 24 hours has seen lots of twists to the story. In summary, Neymar claimed Gonzalez racially abused him and also got sent off for hitting the Marseille man.
Since then, both players have hit at each other on social media with strong words of their own.
PSG decided to join in and released a statement showing full support of their player. There is no room for racism in football and the French giants were sure to echo that in their statement earlier on Monday afternoon.
Just over an hour from then, Marseille have responded with a statement of their own. Les Phocéens insist Gonzalez made no racist comments against Neymar and even claimed the player got death threats already.
The statement read: “Olympique de Marseille is proud of yesterday’s competitive victory over Paris Saint-Germain. This victory, obtained in a fair way, was played out on the pitch thanks to the commitment and dedication of our players, who were able to apply a precise strategy and gameplan.”
“Alvaro Gonzalez is not racist, as he has shown through his daily behavior since joining the club, and as his team-mates have already confirmed. The club remains at the disposal of the disciplinary committee to fully cooperate in the investigation of all the events that occurred in the match, and the 24 hours which followed.
“This controversy is serious and has already produced serious consequences. The club condemns the dissemination of the private telephone numbers of Alvaro Gonzalez and his relatives on Brazilian media and social networks overnight, giving rise to constant harassment — including death threats.
“Olympique de Marseille is the very symbol of anti-racism in French professional sport, given its history and that of the city of Marseille, whose diversity stands firm in the relentless struggle against racism. Its players demonstrate this in their daily commitment on and off the field.”
It remains to be seen how this saga plays out but surely we can expect more from it all. Perhaps a push from PSG to see Gonzalez handed a ban? From the opposite end, Marseille could equally push for ‘violence’ on their player from the PSG camp.
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