Neymar chants were not racist – Espanyol president

Espanyol president Joan Collet has reiterated the chants directed at Neymar in Saturday’s clash against Barcelona were in no way racist. 

Barca captain Andres Iniesta said after the game Neymar was the subject of racist taunts during the clash with their local rivals at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat, which ended scoreless.

Collet rubbished the claims afterwards, and has re-assured everyone that even Cristiano Ronaldo cops the same treatment. 

“I was there, on the pitch, and I saw nothing,” he said. 

“I hear those chants of ‘uh, uh, uh’ every Sunday, even about Cristiano [Ronaldo], and I have never interpreted them as imitating a monkey. 

“That’s how it went. But if we must sanction anyone, you’d have to demonstrate that it was the sound of a monkey. And it wasn’t.”

The president also said he was “surprised” that Barca have reportedly asked the league for images and to investigate the incident. 

“In Cornella there were heaps of their directors with me and none of them said anything,” he added. 

“If there is anything, we’d have to accept the sanction, and Espanyol is in line to punish anything that’s punishable.”