Spanish police say they have arrested a
spectator suspected of throwing a banana
at Barcelona's Brazilian footballer Dani
Alves last weekend.
The racist incident took place as the player was
about to take a corner in a match at Villarreal
on Sunday.
Alves responded by peeling and eating the
banana – which received praise worldwide and
sparked a large social media campaign against
racism.
The man detained has been identified as a 26-
year-old Villarreal supporter.
He has been named as David Campaya Lleo,
local media say.
The club said earlier the man involved had had
his season ticket withdrawn and been given a
lifetime ban.
The Barcelona defender expressed his surprise
at the outpouring of support in the wake of
the banana affair. His team eventually won the
match 3-2, at Villareal's El Madrigal stadium in
Castellon on Spain's east coast.
Alves told BBC Brasil on Wednesday it was
"not an isolated incident", and that he had
been denouncing racist insults for six years.
"I hope that this (campaign) can be an alert to
ban this kind of attitude from football
altogether. I hope the debate about racial
prejudice will not fade away, but stays on
permanently and not be restricted only to
football," he added.
Lifetime ban
Reports suggest the suspect in detention may
have had links to one of the Villarreal's youth
teams, although the team has not commented
on this.
In a statement earlier this week, Villarreal said
the club "deeply regrets and condemns the
incident".
In earlier comments to Brazil's Radio Globo,
Alves said he wanted the opposition fan who
threw the banana to be publicly shamed.
He also criticised Spain for its approach to
racism, saying: "They sell the country as being
first world but in certain things they are very
backward."
The hashtag "we are all monkeys" took
Twitter by storm after fellow Brazilian
footballer Neymar tweeted a photo of himself
smiling on Instagram with a banana, side by
side with his toddler son.
Professional footballers, celebrities and
ordinary people alike have since posted
photos of themselves, banana in hand, on
social media.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi became
the latest public figure to join the campaign
when he posed for reporters, sharing a banana
with Italian football coach Cesare Prandelli.
