Boateng says Alves gave great example of dealing with racism

German footballer Jerome Boateng has said Barcelona defender Dani Alves gave a great example of how to react to racist insults and recalled the incident when a banana was thrown at him and the Brazilian international peeled it and ate it calmly.

Boateng said, in remarks to the German edition of the magazine L'Officiel Hommes, that Alves, whose departure from Barcelona was announced on Thursday, was commendable when facing racism, reports Efe.

The comments of Boateng, son of a German mother and Ghanaian father, came after he was attacked by ultraconservative politician Alexander Gauland of the Alternative for Germany party, on his origins.

Gauland told the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that people might consider Boateng a good footballer but nobody would want to have him as a neighbour.

These comments sparked controversy, after which Gauland said that not being a soccer fan he did not know that Boateng was born and raised in Germany and completely integrated.

Boateng told Bild in an interview to be published on Saturday, that for him the key signs of identity in Germany are punctuality and discipline on the one hand, and tolerance on the other.

--IANS

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