And a young man working in a hotel in the capital, Madrid, published a picture of the Moroccan national team who stayed in the hotel, and directed racist words to them in a post he posted on his personal account on the Instagram site.
“The Moroccan national team is in the hotel,” the 27-year-old wrote, according to Reuters. “Damn the lowly Moroccans.”
He added, “They carry out Ramadan traditions. Their beliefs are nonsense.”
Arrest
The Spanish authorities arrested the young Spaniard, because of his racist publication, which was classified as a hate crime.
The authorities said that the young man was working at the “Eurostars” hotel in Madrid, and asked the stars of the Moroccan national team to take pictures with him, before publishing the pictures in offensive racist terms.
“We would like to extend our sincerest apologies regarding the unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable comments of a racist and xenophobic nature,” Hotosa, the group that owns the hotel, said in a statement.
The group said the waiter was an outside worker hired occasionally and not a permanent hotel employee.
Rarakaki replied
The response of the national coach of the Moroccan national team, Walid Regragui, to the incident, aroused admiration on social media.
“We do not accept racism, but we want to show that Islam is a religion of tolerance,” Rekragui told reporters.
He added, “We forgive this person in accordance with the requirements of the Islamic religion and the traditions of the Moroccan people.”
He pointed out that the worker “made a mistake” but he forgave him, and invited him to visit Morocco “to witness the atmosphere among Muslims during the month of Ramadan.”
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