Last Sunday, Cadiz CF managed to defeat Valencia 2-1. But the club’s feat was overshadowed by the controversy involving defender Juan Cala.
In minute 29, the referee had to stop the game due to a confrontation between Valencia player Mouctar Diakhaby and Juan Cala.
According to Diakhaby’s statements, the Cadiz player told him a racial insult.
Since Diakhaby’s statements were released, Juan Cala has been the victim of a media circus and a tsunami of threats and insults.
Cala claims to be innocent and not have insulted any of the rival players. Both the club and his fellow teammates support him.
But great personalities from the Spanish sports world have pointed to Cala as guilty. Even the president of Valencia FC himself has accused Cala of being a racist.
In a press conference to refer to the matter, Cala said: “I hope that president (Valencia FC) when the video ended, he would go to the duty court to report me, because I am going to do so. Because you cannot accuse in such a forceful way without having any reliable evidence towards me. And I am going to sue him”.
Cala added: “I would love for one of those people to call me asking for an apology. I would love to, but I doubt it. Here we throw information, tweets, many things that remain on deaf ears; we destroy a citizen’s image, nothing is proven, and tomorrow something else will come out, and we will do the same. It is something that ends up normalizing, and that is not normal”.
So far, there is no substantial evidence that Cala has insulted Diakhaby. Even in the match referees’ report, it is detailed that they never heard any insults.
The matter is under investigation by the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation and by LaLiga, and we will have to wait to see if Cala is innocent or not.