Two weeks after the alleged racist incident in Lisbon with Giovanni Prestianni and Vinicius Junior that forced the activation of the anti-racism protocol in Benfica – Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, the same event occurred in Elche – Espanyol with Omar el Hilali and Rafa Mir as the protagonist.
The 78th minute of the game was passing when Omar el Hilali ran to alert Iosu Galechreferee of the crash, that he had received an alleged racist insult from Mir. The referee stopped the match to hear the Moroccan full-back’s version. A minute and a half later, Galech made the gesture of crossing his arms to indicate the activation of the anti-racism protocol. After a three-minute pause and announcing the news over the public address system, the clash continued.
Rafa Mir ended up being Elche’s hero with the tie in the 90th minute
As Galech himself says in the minutes; ”none of the members of the match’s refereeing body heard an insult”so they could not act in the form of a red card or expulsion to the Elche player. Galech points out that the insult El Hilali refers to is “you came in a boat.”
Minutes later, a penalty by Carlos Romero ended Rafa Mir’s final tie.
