If you haven’t seen this video of Barcelona defender Dani Alves reacting to an ignorant idiot who threw a banana on the pitch in a racist gesture you really should – it’s epic. Instead of rising to the bait when he notices the banana, Dani just causally strolls over to it, picks it up, eats it before coolly executing a kick. We’re not the only ones who think his reaction is legendary, because Instagram and Twitter are now awash with people who are showing their support in #nomakeupselfie fashion – by posting pictures of themselves with bananas alongside the hashtag #weareallmonkeys, or it’s Brazillian equivalent #somostodosmacacos.
Making monkey noises and throwing bananas onto the pitch is an all too common expression of racist provocation in European football and is something that the UEFA have been trying to crack down on with varying degrees of success for a few years now. But sadly their Let's Kick Racism Out Of Football campaigns haven't had a huge impact.
After the incident, Barcelona released a statement condemning the incident: 'FC Barcelona would like to underline the civil, cultural, social and sporting importance of two messages which UEFA remind us of before every game: Respect and No to Racism. FC Barcelona wishes to express its complete support and solidarity with our first team player Dani Alves, following the insults he was subject to from a section of the crowd at El Madrigal on Sunday during the game against Villarreal. FC Barcelona accepts that the perpetrators of these insults are in no way connected to Villarreal and we value very positively the support the club offered to our player.’
But all that chat isn't having as much of an impact as the response of Alves's teammate Neymar who first posted a picture of himself with the hashtag #weareallmonkeys after the game. His girlfriend Thaissa Carvalho quickly followed suit by posting a similar picture with some of her friends eating bananas and, before long, the hashtag was trending globally.
Not before time, either. Especially with the World Cup coming up.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiecullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.