'Keite!' : Seydou Keita

“In Pepe’s eyes, I’m not a human. He called me a ‘macaco’ (‘monkey’ in Portugese) during my time at Barca, and then he spat at me. I said to myself: ‘This man is not worth anything’. I did not speak publicly about this because he has no value. I didn’t want to shake his hand in the friendly and I said this before to Mehdi Benatia. He went behind me and he spat at me. I had a bottle of water and I threw it at him and then all the other players came. The ‘blancos’ (Real Madrid players) wanted to hit me. It’s true that I displayed a bad image and I apologize, but it’s unacceptable that a man can spit. I’m not a saint, but I respect people. I will not argue with those who do not regard me as a human being, he has displayed unacceptable behavior. Is racism widespread in football? No, we shouldn’t generalize. I’m African and I’ve played in Europe for years. I’ve been able to deal with wonderful people. It’s just a minority.”