USA soccer star walks back comment that he 'wasn't shocked' by racist behavior of Spanish fans who chanted 'monkey' at black player

United States men's national soccer player Yunus Musah spoke out to clarify comments he made when he said he "wasn't shocked" by the racist behavior of a "whole stadium" of soccer fans in Spain, claiming that he only meant "a few fans."

Musah, a 20-year-old midfielder who represented the United States at the 2022 World Cup, spoke to U.K. outlet the Guardian recently about racist abuse hurled by fans of his team in Valencia, Spain. During a match against Real Madrid on May 21, 2023, fans were heard continuously chanting "mono" (monkey) at Brazilian player Vinícius Júnior, as well as "Vinícius die."

“I was quite far away from where the incident started, because it was a group of fans next to him, behind our goal,” he says. “But what I didn’t recognize obviously was … where the whole stadium was really chanting against him," Musah said.

"That was quite sad to see, the stadium being at its loudest to chant against someone that was being racially abused. The stadium was as loud as I’ve ever heard, you know, and that was like, I can’t imagine how it must have felt for Vinícius," the American star continued.

“Honestly, I wasn’t shocked, because I’ve seen a lot of that stuff happen a lot before,” he added. “Not in our stadium, but around La Liga. So I wasn’t really surprised. Which is sad, because, it just really shouldn’t be normal. It shouldn’t be normal.”

The victimized player had several altercations with opposing players and interactions with fans.

Musah took to his Twitter to walk back some of his remarks and said his words may have been "misinterpreted for" the team's fans. He changed his claim of the "whole stadium" chanting to just "a few fans."

"I want to thank [the fans] for the support they have always given me. When I speak of racist behavior it is of a few fans that must be eradicated from football," Musah said.

"The club acted very quickly and this is the way to tackle this problem. Mestalla is not a racist stadium and Valencianismo cannot be labeled as racist. Together against racism!" he wrote.

Despite Musah's remarks, many other accounts of the incidents said otherwise. "The whole stadium was shouting 'monkey, monkey, monkey,'" said Carlo Ancelotti, the opposing team's manager.

"I think this is a message ... that we must all stop this," said former Spanish soccer star, now manager of Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the racist abuse in Spain, where there is no legal protection for freedom of speech.

As well, four fans were reportedly arrested and “suspected of a hate crime for hanging from a bridge a mannequin with Vinicius’ shirt," police said in a statement.

Additionally, during a game in which Brazil wore black jerseys for the first time, as a protest against racism, a friend of Vinicius was allegedly subjected to a security guard waving a banana at him, while saying "Hands up, this one is my pistol for you."

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