Footage posted by Oratory Youths FC shows Luis Gabriel fall seemingly unprompted before two players from the opposing team, Għajnsielem FC, get extremely close to his face and shout indiscernible things.

Upon hearing the comments, Luis can be seen springing up before trying to get the referee to take action. However, the referee decided to give Luis a yellow card instead.

This triggered a reaction from Oratory FC which posted two statements explaining and condemning the incident, highlighting the need for Maltese sports to fight against racism.

“By the comments he heard, Luis said that he was specifically targeted because of his skin colour,” the club wrote. 

“This unjust provocation understandably triggered a strong reaction from Luis, resulting in a yellow card which led to his dismissal 5 minutes later, while no action was taken against the aggressor who racially abused our player.”

“It is disconcerting that the victim of racial abuse received the only disciplinary action from the referee.”

The club continued by emphasising the importance of not ignoring “situations like these,” arguing that doing that simply undermines any effort to combat racial abuse.

“Silence in such cases would make us complicit in perpetuating an environment where racial remarks go unpunished, and that is a responsibility we cannot afford to ignore.”

Lovin Malta has reached out to Għajnsielem FC for a comment.

This is not the first time football players in Malta have been victimised by racism, with Maya Lucia being one of many athletes experiencing such abuse in 2021.

What do you make of this incident?