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Football

21st Jul 2021

Marca criticised as article calls David Alaba “the black Sergio Ramos”

JOE

“He is not the black version of a white man, he is David Alaba. Period.”

Spanish daily sports newspaper, Marca, has drawn criticism for an article about new Real Madrid signing, David Alaba, entitled “El Sergio Ramos negro”.

The Austrian defender has now been officially unveiled as a Madrid player after completing his free transfer from Bayern Munich, where he won 10 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues.

He has inherited the number four shirt at the Bernabeu, vacated by Ramos when he completed his recent switch to Paris Saint-Germain.

An opinion piece by Carlos Carpio was published by Marca to mark Alaba’s unveiling, stating that the defender’s challenge having made the transfer from Germany was to become “the black Sergio Ramos”.

The choice of comparison – and the fact it was used to form the article’s headline – was condemned by many, who rightly pointed out how completely unnecessary it was to refer to the race of a player.