We forgive, we are tolerant, says Morroco coach after racist slurs

A 27-YEAR-OLD worker at a Madrid hotel hosting the Morocco team was arrested for a hate crime after posting derogatory comments about Islam and racist slurs against the players on social media, Spanish police said yesterday.

Local police said the employee, a waiter at the Spanish capital’s fivestar Eurostars Hotel Tower, asked players to take photographs with him.

He then uploaded the images to Instagram with xenophobic insults and tagged the Moroccan team’s account, with the post quickly topping 70 000 views.

The man is due to appear before a judge shortly, police said.

“We wish to offer our most sincere apologies in relation to the unfortunate, reprehensible and unacceptable comments of a racist and xenophobic nature,” Hotusa, the group that owns the hotel, said in a statement.

The waiter was an external worker hired on an occasional basis and not part of the hotel’s regular staff, they said.

Asked about the incident, Morocco coach Walid Regragui referred to the ongoing holy period of Ramadaan, known in the Islamic world as the month of forgiveness and tolerance.

“We do not accept racism, but we want to show that Islam is a religion of tolerance,” Regragui said.

“We forgive this person in accordance with Islamic religion and the customs of Moroccan people.”

He added the worker “made a mistake”, and invited him to Morocco to “see the atmosphere between Muslims during Ramadaan”.

Morocco beat Brazil 2-1 last weekend to achieve the first victory for an Arab country over the five-time world champions, who are top of the Fifa rankings.

They also became the first Arab team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals last year, and the first African side to make the semi-finals, beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal along the way.