Sevilla Football Club has strongly condemned the “obscene and completely inappropriate” incident involving forward Lucas Ocampos during their recent La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano.
The incident occurred in the 33rd minute of the match, which Sevilla ultimately won 2-1.
As Ocampos was preparing to take a throw-in, he was poked on the backside by a supporter in the stands. The 29-year-old player immediately turned to address the individual and called the referee over, resulting in a brief stoppage of play.
In a statement released by the club, Sevilla expressed their disgust at the incident and emphasized their hope that appropriate measures outlined in the regulations would prevent such behavior in the future.
The club has directly conveyed their concerns to La Liga and stressed that such gestures and behaviors have no place in football
“We would like to place on record our disgust at the incident that occurred this Monday during our match against Rayo Vallecano, in which our player Lucas Ocampos was subjected to an obscene and completely inappropriate act by a home fan.
“We hope that the appropriate measures outlined in the regulations will be taken to prevent such behaviour from happening again on a football field, and we have expressed this to La Liga directly. These gestures and behaviours should not be allowed in our competition if we aspire to be the best league in the world.
“We send our full support to Lucas Ocampos, who showed composure and immense professionalism despite the unacceptable behavior of the fan who harassed him,” the statement read.
Sevilla’s head coach, Quique Sanchez Flores, also commented on the incident, expressing disbelief at the behavior of certain individuals and questioning the security measures in stadiums. He emphasized the need to prevent such occurrences from happening again.
Despite the incident, Sevilla emerged victorious in the match, securing their fourth La Liga victory of the season and climbing to 15th place in the standings.
