Ocampos wants poking incident to be taken as seriously as racism

Sevilla star Lucas Ocampos has called on LaLiga officials to get involved after an unusual incident interrupted a recent game. The winger and his club faced Rayo Vallecano in a Spanish top-flight matchup on Monday night. With the game level at 1-1, Ocampos attempted to take a throw-in in front of the home Rayo supporters.

However, one young fan poked the player’s backside before he could resume play. Ocampos quickly turned his attention back towards the opposing supporter and subsequently called on the referee to intervene. As a result, the match was briefly stopped, and several Rayo players asked the fans not to interrupt the game.

Ocampos references racism and sexism after poking incident

Sevilla went on to win the fixture 2-1 thanks to a goal by Youssef En-Nesyri just before the halftime break. While the victory helped give the club a little breathing room towards the wrong end of the table, much of the postgame talk revolved around the aforementioned incident.

Ocampos discussed the event during an interview with DAZN. “You can see what happened in the images,” stated Ocampos. “I hope LaLiga takes it as seriously as it takes racism and these things. I don’t think all the Rayo people are like that because they have always treated us with respect, but there is always one fool.”

The Argentina international also hinted that the incident would be handled differently if it occurred during a women’s match. “I hope it doesn’t happen in other areas because if this happens in a women’s football match, we know what can happen,” continued Ocampos. “I kept my calm because I have two daughters.”

Both Sevilla and Rayo published separate statements condemning the poking incident in support of Ocampos. The home side claimed the incident goes against their values and that they are working to identify the fan.

LaLiga criticized for handling of several fan issues

Racism, and LaLiga’s handling of the issue, is a major point of contention in Spain. Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior has been racially abused by rival fans on at least 10 separate occasions in Spain. In a recent case, the Brazilian star received verbal abuse during a matchup with Sevilla in October.

Select Sevilla fans hurled abuse towards Vinicius following a heated confrontation with Ocampos. Both stars received yellow cards for the argument late in the contentious fixture. Following the incident, Sevilla’s stadium staff put a message on the scoreboard telling fans to stop with racist comments.

Months before the incident in Sevilla, Spanish soccer officials admitted that there is a racism problem in the country. LaLiga President Javier Tebas took to X to proclaim the problem was not as bad as others make it appear. Meanwhile, former Spanish federation chief Luis Rubiales did not necessarily agree.

“The first thing is to recognize that we have a problem in our country,” Rubiales stated back in May. “It is a serious problem that also stains an entire team, an entire fan base, an entire club, an entire country.”

Rubiales later resigned from his role following a forced kissing scandal.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.