During Sunday’s Belgrade derby between Partizan Belgrade and Rad Beograd, 28-year-old Partizan midfielder Everton Luiz left the pitch in tears after having racist abuse hurled at him.
Supporters released a banner insulting the Brazilian star just before the end of the match, which his team won 1-0.
The referee stopped the game while the banner was taken down and the stewards attempted to get the Rad fans to stop their horrible chanting, but they were ignored. Luiz was comforted by his teammates.
After the final whistle Luiz stuck his middle finger up at the Rad fans who were being held back by police.
After the match he detailed his distress: “I’ve been suffering racist abuse during the entire 90 minutes and also was upset by the home players, who supported that. They were all attacking me. I want to forget this as soon as possible. I love Serbia and the people here, that is why I cried.
“But please say no to racism!”
Partizan coach Marko Nikolic defended Luiz, saying, “It’s a return to the reality of Serbian football. Everton should not have reacted but something provoked his outburst, didn’t it?”
The chanting follows Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Tottenham’s Danny Rose suffering similar abuse in Serbia back in 2012.