UD Llanera goalkeeper Martin Mapisa was a victim of racist abuse during a Spanish Segunda B Division match against CD Palencia Cristo Atletico on Saturday.

The Warriors international, who is on loan from Zamora CF, was at the receiving end of shouts by the home team’s (Palencia) supporters, who repeatedly yelled at him expressions like monkey and macaque during the match.

The incident was brought to the attention of the match officials who warned the fans over the stadium’s public address system to stop that behaviour.

Palencia Cristo has now formally apologised to Mapisa for the racist insults received. The club also said it is investigating the incident to identify the perpetrators and take action, and is even considering closing the north end of the stadium for the next match.

“From CD Palencia Cristo Atlético we want to show our outrage and “strongly condemn the outrageous racist insults” that occurred in last Saturday’s match,” the club said in a statement.

“First of all, our apologies to Martín Mapisa, on behalf of the club and all our fans, nobody deserves these insults that do not represent our club or our fans.

“There is no place in sport or in society for any kind of discriminatory behaviour. Such repulsive behavior goes against the sports spirit, the values ​​of our club and a total lack of respect for all the people who, with their work and effort, try to make football serve as a benchmark of union between different communities, social sectors and countries around the world.

“These incidents only reinforce our club’s commitment to fighting all forms of discrimination, the club will take action in this regard by applying the harshest possible punishment to all those responsible.”

The statement continues: “From the club we hope that the requested collaboration takes effect and the identification of the person in charge is completed, otherwise the club cannot fail to act accordingly and in the absence of identification of the person in charge, the fund sector will be closed north (among other measures) from which these repulsive and intolerable behaviors took place, for the next meeting in La Balastera.

“Our fans must understand that if action is not taken there is no point in showing a conviction in writing as it would be forgotten, in these cases everyone must act, we the first to show an example, those who have heard it They must identify it because the facts harm the club, it harms the responsible fans who are the vast majority and above all it harms our city and the sporting spirit.”- Soccer24 Zimbabwe