La Liga: Racism incident causes Valencia to walk off pitch against Cadiz

The LaLiga Santander was marred by controversy on Sunday after the match between Cadiz and Valencia was disrupted due to racism allegations. An incident took place between Juan Cala and Mouctar Diakhaby which prompted the entire Valencia squad to walk off the pitch.

Diakhaby allegedly heard a racist insult directed at him by Cala. It is unclear what exact statement he heard but he was clearly furious and his Valencia teammates were fully behind him.

Chaos ensued on the pitch after other players got involved and the referee decided to show Diakhaby a yellow card. At this point, the Valencia players made the decision to halt the match and walk off the pitch in protest.

It is unclear what took place in the dressing room but the club later confirmed that they had a meeting and Diakhaby had urged his teammates to continue the match.

The match was eventually restarted from the 29th minute mark but Diakhaby did not return with the rest of his teammates. Hugo Guillamon took his place on the pitch for Valencia but Cala stayed on for Cadiz.

Valencia later tweeted in support of their player, and reiterated their condemnation of racism.

There is no doubt that La Liga authorities will investigate the allegations, with both clubs expected to cooperate. It remains to be seen if Cala will be found guilty of any offence and if he will be given any penalties.

Cadiz meanwhile, issued an official statement which reiterates the club's stance against racism. In their website, Cadiz said," We are against all forms of racism or xenophobia, regardless of who is responsible, and work hard to help eradicate this. Anyone guilty of such an offence, whether or not they belong to our team, must be punished."

The statement further read: "The club cannot comment on incidents that arise between players during the course of the play, and always demands respect and responsibility from its players in their attitude towards opponents."

Cadiz won the match 2-1.