Sevilla call for action after fan touches player’s backside،
Sevilla have called on La Liga to take action after winger Lucas Ocampos was touched “inappropriately” by a fan during their 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano, the club announced on Tuesday.
The incident occurred 33 minutes into Monday's match, when a fan punched Ocampos in the back as he took a throw-in. The Argentine turned around to reprimand the youngster supporter before informing the referee of the incident before the match resumes.
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“We would like to express our disgust at this incident,” Sevilla said in a statement.
“Lucas Ocampos was the victim of an obscene and totally inappropriate act by a local fan. We hope that the appropriate measures outlined in the regulations will be taken to prevent such behavior from happening again on a football pitch , and we expressed it directly to LaLiga..
Rayo Vallecano said in a statement that the incident went against its values as a football club and that it was working to identify the supporter.
“This isolated action is the sole individual responsibility of the supporter who carried it out,” the club said in a statement.
“Rayo Vallecano is currently working to identify the supporter so that, if he is a season ticket holder of the club, appropriate disciplinary action can be taken in accordance with the internal regulations.”
Ocampos said he wanted the league to treat the incident “as seriously as they take racism and that kind of thing.”
“You can see what happened in the images,” Ocampos told broadcaster DAZN. “I hope La Liga takes this as seriously as they take racism and that kind of thing. I don't think all the people at Rayo are like that because they've always treated us with respect, but there's always a jerk.
“I hope it doesn't happen in other areas, because if it happens in a women's football match we know what can happen. I kept calm because I have two daughters, I hope this doesn't happen to them in the future.
“I hope the steps that need to be taken are taken, and I hope a fool like this doesn't stain an otherwise very well behaved group of fans.”
Associated Press reporting contributed to this report
