Dani Alves claims that racism is rampant in Paris

Daniel Alves is arguably one of the most decorated players in the history of world football. During his spells at Bahia, Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, the Brazilian has gone on to win over 40 trophies. He is also the second most decorated defender of all time in European competitions. Dani Alves has nine European medals, which means that he is level with AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini on the all-time list. 

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The Brazilian right-back has enjoyed an illustrious career across Europe. However, in an interview with European media, Alves did not speak too kindly of his time with Paris Saint-Germain. In the interview, Alves claimed that the French capital is filled with racists. He went on to say that spending a week in Paris would be like having the adventure of a lifetime. Spending more than a week in Paris, however, is tiresome.  

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Alves won consecutive Ligue 1 titles during his time at PSG. He also won the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue in his first season in the French capital. During his two seasons at the club, Paris Saint-Germain also won the Trophee des Champions, a fixture played out between the winners of the of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. However, Alves claimed that his teammates at PSG were the victims of racial abuse a number of times during his two-year spell at the club. He also went on to state that no racial abuse was directed towards him during his time in Paris, as he claimed that the fans knew that he would not take the abuse lightly.

Dani Alves is no stranger to dealing with racism. Most famously, the Brazilian was the victim of racial abuse when a banana was thrown at him during Barcelona's visit to Villarreal in LaLiga. He subsequently picked up the fruit, peeled it and ate it, before going about the corner for Barcelona. His reaction to the racial abuse sparked off a social media movement wherein a number of players including Neymar and Sergio Aguero went on to show solidarity with the right-back by posting a picture of themselves eating a banana on social media.

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Dani Alves: A dark cloud of racism in football

Dani Alves' interview about racism in Paris comes at a time when world football is grappling with the growing instances of racial abuse across club and international football. Most recently, England were the latest team to suffer racial abuse during their visit to Sofia for their Euro Qualifier against Bulgaria. England's Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling brought the racial abuse by the Bulgarian fans to the notice of the officials. The game, which England went on to win by a margin of six goals, was halted twice due to racist chants - once in the 27th minute and during the 42nd minutes. While it was a convincing victory over both, Bulgaria and racism for the hosts, the game will forever be remembered by what happened in the aforementioned minutes of the first half at the Vasil Levski Stadium. 

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