The meeting between Sporting de Espinho and Benfica, relating to the quarter-finals of the play-off of the national volleyball championship, was marked by an interruption of around 10 minutes, following an alleged racist insult directed at the red player Lucas França.
It was the fourth set of the match – which ended in a 3-1 victory for Benfica – when the Brazilian defender reportedly heard an insult coming from the stands. Immediately, Lucas França reacted, threw the service off the field and went to the bench visibly upset, citing having been called a “monkey”.
The game continued for a few more points, but ended up being interrupted, with the athlete requesting the intervention of the referees so that the author of the alleged insult could be identified, together with the delegates from the Portuguese Volleyball Federation and authorities present.
At the end of the meeting, Benfica coach Marcel Matz was affected by the situation. “It’s always a very complicated subject, when we touch on issues of skin color, race… Whoever goes through this must suffer a lot. It’s sad,” he told Sport TV.
“It could have been a good afternoon, with a well-composed grandstand… And some examples always end up tarnishing a show. I hope they learn and that this serves as an example. But it won’t be the last time, it will continue”, he lamented.
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