LUCAS OCAMPOS has called on LaLiga chiefs to take action after a fan appeared to poke his bum during Sevilla’s clash at Rayo Vallecano.
The “obscene” incident occurred in the 33rd minute of the game as the Sevilla star prepared to take a throw-in.
Cameras picked up the fan appearing to poke Ocampos’ bottom, prompting him to turn around to remonstrate with the fan before calling referee Hernández Maeso over.
Following the game, which Sevilla won 2-1 thanks to a brace from Youssef En-Nesyri, Ocampos was joined by his club and manager in blasting the fan’s behaviour and calling for action.
Ocampos, 29, told Dazn: “You can see what happened in the images. I hope LaLiga takes it as seriously as it takes racism and these things.
“I don’t think all the Rayo people are like that because they have always treated us with respect, but there is always one fool.
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“I hope it doesn’t happen in other areas, because if this happens in a women’s football match, we know what can happen.”
The Argentine added: “I kept my calm because I have two daughters, I hope this doesn’t happen to them in the future.
“I hope that the action that has to be taken is taken, and I hope that a fool like this does not stain a set of fans who otherwise behaved very well.”
Former Watford manager Quique Sánchez Flores echoed this sentiment and questioned why fans felt they could perform such acts.
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He said: “You have to ask yourself what’s wrong with people’s minds, whether they’re young or old.
“We have to ask ourselves a giant question of what is happening and where is the security and who we let in and who we don’t. I’m very worried.
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“As an individual, it is dangerous for me that there are scattered minds going to football stadiums and damaging the image of what I have always known as football, which seems to me a thing, on the one hand wild, but on the other hand wonderful.
“Hopefully these things will not be repeated.”
A Sevilla statement said: “Sevilla FC deeply regrets the incident that occurred this Monday in the match against Rayo Vallecano, in which our player Lucas Ocampos suffered an obscene and totally inappropriate gesture by a local fan.
“Sevilla FC hopes that the appropriate measures will be taken which typifies the regulation so that such behaviour is not repeated on a football field, and this has been transferred to LaLiga.
“These gestures and behaviours should not be allowed in our competition if we aspire to be the best league in the world.”
Rayo Vallecano released a statement on their own condemning the act.
It said: “This isolated action is solely the individual responsibility of the fan who carried it out, and neither Rayo Vallecano nor any of the other almost 15 thousand spectators who filled the Vallecas Stadium in the match against Sevilla FC, who behaved in an exemplary manner, have no responsibility for it.”
The statement added the club were working to identify the fan and would take appropriate disciplinary action if they were found to be a season ticket holder.
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Ocampos has played 22 times in LaLiga this season, scoring three goals and adding one assist.
The win moves Sevilla three points clear of the relegation zone and ends a winless league run stretching back to December 19.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
