The referee of the second leg of the Portuguese Cup semifinals between FC Porto and Famalicão, Manuel Mota, explains in the match report, quoted by OJogo newspaperthat he could not “understand” what Colombatto said to Pepe, who accuses the Argentine player of calling him infectious mononucleosis (monkey, in Spanish).
In the report to which the newspaper had access, referee Manuel Mota writes that “at minute 87, player number 3 (Pepe) from club A went to the referee saying that number 97 (Colombatto) from club B called him a monkey and that I heard it. To which I replied ‘the monkey didn’t call’, even though I heard a word I couldn’t understand.”
At the end of this Thursday’s game, which FC Porto won 3-2 and secured their place in the Portuguese Cup final, Pepe denounced having been subjected to a racist insult by Colombatto and assured that he would report the episode to The authorities.
This Friday, the Famalicão player guaranteed that the FC Porto captain is not telling the truth.
“Yesterday [quinta-feira] at night something very sad happened during the match with FC Porto. It was not defeat or elimination. A footballer from the rival team, who I recognize and consider a reference, falsely accused me of having nicknamed him ‘monkey’. I want to think that it was a mistake, that you didn’t listen well to what I told you, although after analyzing your subsequent behavior I have doubts about it”, wrote the Famalicão player.
Source: TSF
