Dani Alves' Bite Against Racism

Dani Alves instantly became my new hero on Sunday, with a simple action that made a complete mockery of a moronic racist fan.  In Europe, there is a disgusting practice that happens in far too many stadiums, where fans at soccer matches will direct racist abuse at black players, including shouting monkey calls when they are in possession and throwing bananas at them.  There are certain stadiums that are worse than others, and the clubs are subject to punishment from governing boards when it happens (usually), but it has been impossible to stamp it out thus far.

Dani Alves, who is Brazilian, has been subject to this many times in his career playing in Spain, but watch his classic response yesterday as a banana flies past him and on to the field while he lines up to take a corner kick.


It is rare that  athletes can express a sense of humour on the pitch, but here is a brilliant example.

Teammates of Alves and other supporters showed their solidarity by tweeting photos of themselves eating bananas.  Dani took a stupid action with racist implications, and owned it in such a casual and dismissive way.  Way to bite racism Dani!