Diakhaby: “Black shit is not difficult to understand”

Mouctar Diakhaby, the French Valencia player tells AS his version of what happened in Cádiz with Cala.

How are you?

I feel fine. The past week was difficult for me. The media issue was complicated. But now I'm okay. During the week I trained normally, trying to forget everything. In the party too. I'm professional. But now I want to tell what I experienced and I will not speak until after the investigation.

Let's get to the facts, you heard “fucking nigga”, at what point?

He tells me when we are in the area. When I protect the ball for my goalkeeper. When Jaume has the ball, he insults me.

Give me the play.

He insults me and turns. I didn't listen to the “leave me alone” thing, because he then went backwards. I yelled “referee, referee.” My reaction was weird. It was the first time that had happened to me and I forgot everything that happened on the grass. He only had his words in his head.

Does he say it to you softly, in your ear …?

He tells me when he gets up. I think he hurts himself, I don't know that, but he gets up and then tells me. You can see in the image that he turns a little towards me and the last word that comes out is “shit”. But when he says it (the phrase 'black shit' is not reproduced during the interview because his young son appears in the living room) he is closer to the ground than standing.

You then call the referee, ignore the play and go to Cala

I was just thinking about the phrase. You all saw how I reacted.

Then he makes a gesture of asking for forgiveness.

Yes. He wanted to excuse himself, but I didn't want to hear from anyone or hear what he wanted to say to me. I was very angry.

Gameiro and Fali are the first to arrive where you are and they take you away from Cala, does the Cádiz player say something to you?

Yes. He was trying to calm me down. He was trying to get me to listen to him. He talked to me about things about the shield, but I didn't want to know anything about anyone. He told me: “You calm down, you think about your shield.” I told him that it is a subject that is not to think about football or money. It was a racism thing.

That was the conversation with Fali?

Yes. He wanted to reassure me, but I, you have seen everything, was very angry.

Obviously, his reaction was unusual.

Of course it wasn't. But because what happened is not normal. Many things happen in the fields, many words, many insults … that is football. It is so. In football there are insults, but there are things that cannot be said. There are issues that cannot be discussed like that and it is the racial issue.

Then Gabriel Paulista is the one who takes him to the band and who says to the cameras: “Fucking nigger, no.” I understand that you are the one who tells Gabriel.

Yes. I tell Gabi. My colleagues did not hear it. Thierry and Jaume were the closest, but they were focused on the play and said it quietly. It was difficult for them.

Did no colleague overhear your conversation with Cala?

None, otherwise they would have said, of course.

What did the referee tell you on the grass?

First he took out my card. But he didn't know why he was so nervous and angry. Then he did ask me and I explained it to him.

Who decides to go to the locker room: you or the teammates who approach you?

Jamie saw my reaction. I knew that I was not in the game, that I was going to go. He knew it, because he knows me, I don't react like that for nothing. Gabi and I talked and the decision was made to leave the field.

That gesture had never occurred in football in Spain, I imagine that he appreciated feeling supported by his teammates?

Sure. They know how I am. I never get angry and if I do, something has happened. They know it is not a lie. They know me. They know how I am. They directly knew that what Cala had told me was true.

What happened inside the locker room?

I wasn't talking to anyone inside. They talked a lot, they shouted. But those are wardrobe things.

He said in the video he recorded on Tuesday that a Cádiz player told a teammate of his that if they would play again if Cala apologized, who had that conversation?

It was simple. A player of ours enters the locker room and tells us all. But I cannot say more about that, because it is a subject that is being investigated and I cannot reveal everything. But there is a player of ours who came in and told us.

A player of yours?

Yes, one from Valencia who had spoken with one from Cádiz.

But can't you say the name?

No I can not. That will be known to the judge.

You said you didn't accept any apology from Cala, but you did tell your teammates to play again, why?

I told you, it's true. The referees explained that if we did not go out onto the field, we would lose points. The rule could hurt us. I did not want my team to pay for that, I did not want my team to pay for a person who makes mistakes and is not from our team. That's not fair. That's why I told my teammates to go back to the field. My head didn't understand that. That has to change. I think that if this happens in another country, nobody loses points.

Did you feel pressured by the regulation?

My colleagues did not want to continue. They were with me. If I tell them that we stay in the locker room, they stay. But I am not selfish, I did not want us to lose points for something that was not our mistake.

Who informs them?

I don't remember, but it was someone who spoke to the referees.

Your delegate?

I do not remember, the truth.

Once he communicates to the coach that he does not feel strong enough to continue, he decides to go to the stands, why?

I decide to go out because I had nothing to hide from. I wanted people to see that there was a suspicion of racism and the suspect was on the field and the victim in the stands. I didn't want to hide. I had nothing to hide. I was not guilty of anything, I was the victim.

What did you think when the game resumed and you were in the stands and Cala was on the grass?

Many things. It is something that I do not understand. It must be said and it is the truth, the norm in another country I think they would be different.

It is one of the fights of Valencia, that the regulation is changed.

Yes, of course. I want to thank the support of my president Anil Murthy. He is helping me in everything and wants to change things.

What would you change from the norm? Or put another way, what does not have to happen again of what happened in Cádiz?

Well, the team that makes the decision to leave because of racism does not also have the threat of three points. That team is a victim. You cannot lose three points for a complaint of racism. I was the victim and also my team could lose three points.

Did someone from Cádiz speak with you after the game or in the days after?

After the game, yes. I have spoken with two players and with an injured player that I played in the first leg against him.

What has hurt you most of all that you have experienced as a result of the fact that you denounced?

After the insult? The statement of Lord Thebes. I read it and laughed. I do not know how to explain it. If he had said that they have no proof that Cala said that, well, but what he said is that I had misunderstood … and it is quite rare and special to say that.

He understands that there may be no evidence, but not that his word is doubted.

Of course. I can not say everything there is, because it is in the investigation. But they do know and can't say that.

Does it surprise you that in today's football, in a stadium with 17 cameras, there are no images or sounds to confirm your accusation?

It's something I don't understand either. In football now everything comes out. The conversations between the players, there are people who read lips … I have not understood that there is no more evidence, really. But hey, what can I do? Nothing. Just tell the truth, which is what I'm doing. I do not understand that all the images are from afar, that there are none close.

Has the League report seen it?

I do not. But I know what there is.

The case is now in the hands of an investigating judge, have you called him?

Not right now. But I think that day will come and I hope that day will come, because for me it is very important to be able to tell a judge the truth. If you make mistakes, you have to pay. That's how life is. If I speak badly, they have to punish me and do everything possible to punish me. I hope they do their best to discover the truth.

What evidence will they bring to court?

That is the subject of the Valencia lawyers. Valencia, in addition to believing you, insists on the need for a change in the protocols so that the alleged victim does not feel unprotected, did you feel that way?

Would you be willing to have a face to face in front of the judge with Cala?

Of course, of course. I'm not scared. I reiterate what I understood, because I understood it very well. I have been in Spain for almost three years and I understand almost everything. And those kinds of words, more. They are not difficult words to understand.

Cala is protected by the presumption of innocence, you understand that, right?

Yeah right. I understand that. If no evidence comes out, it is word of mouth (two versions). If no evidence comes out, then I don't think it will be sanctioned. That is logical. But let's see. I hope that evidence will come out and that everything possible is done to find that evidence.

Between Lyon and Valencia he has 142 games in the elite, had something similar ever happened to him before?

No never. It's the first time it happened to me and also the first time it happened to my team. I am not used to that. There are other colleagues who are more used to it. And less in a face to face. It wasn't a tiered thing. It was in the field.

I imagine that in a corner or foul, in any other game, they will have told him many things. Explain to those who don't understand the difference between a hot “game set” and a “black shit.”

Look, everyone on the field wants to win and sometimes we get angry. Everyone has their reaction. In the fields there are insults and what happens in the field, stays in the field … but not everything. People insult me, but you can never talk about race. Can't hurt by the color of your skin. That can't get into anyone's head. Soccer is a game, but with the racial issue you cannot play it, because there is a social history behind it. I have heard that they are men's things, that what happens in the field, stays there … but not everything. One man has to respect another's race. We cannot ignore that.

Do you think that this type of disparagement that you denounce is racism or do you understand that in some cases it may be a lack of social awareness and education of what it means to attack a person because of their race?

They are both and therefore cannot be tolerated. There is racism in society and in all countries. It is not a case of Spain. It happens in Spain, in England, in France, everywhere. That is why it is something that we have to eradicate. People have to think better of themselves when they say something, we are all human and equal. I also have friends of all colors. I don't know Cala personally, I can't say he's racist, I don't know him, but he said a racist word and that's why he has to pay, because if we let those things happen… we will never eradicate racism in society. I insist, I don't know Cala and I can't say he's a racist. But he has said a word that has to be paid, how should I pay if I make a mistake like that.

Do I understand that you expect a sanction for Cala?

Sure. There has to be it to set an example to society. If there is no sanction, it is like saying that we can say what we want and thus we will not fight to eradicate racism. There is a lot of talk about stop racism, but few solutions are sought. You have to be tough on those words and mistakes.

Beyond this case being resolved, what do you hope your complaint and vindication will do?

People have to know that you cannot say everything without consequences. It is not a football or shield issue. It is much more important than that, it is a racial issue. We cannot differentiate between people by race. I hope the people doing the research go all the way. I reiterate my words that I heard.