Racism rears its ugly head again in Spain

Spain's Anti-violence Commission has opened an investigation into incidents of racist abuse that took place during last Saturday's league match between Real Zaragoza and Barcelona.

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o was greeted with monkey chants whenever he touched the ball at the Romareda stadium and peanuts were thrown on to the pitch after he scored one of the goals in his side's 4-1 victory.

Eto'o, who was named African Player of the Year for the second time in succession earlier this week, celebrated his goal by imitating a monkey.

"I danced like a monkey because they treated me like a monkey," the 23-year-old told reporters after the game.

The Spanish Football Federation did not take any action as the incidents were not mentioned in the match report of referee Fernando Carmona Mendez, who noted only that the behaviour of the crowd had been "normal".

But the government-run Anti-violence Commission has since decided to launch an investigation into the incidents after they were remarked upon by security officials at the game.