Espanyol and Elche drew 2-2 on Sunday in a LaLiga match briefly interrupted toward the end after the referee activated the anti-racism protocol.
Iosu Galech Apezteguia’s decision came around the 80th minute after Espanyol defender Omar El Hilali accused Elche forward Rafa Mir of racially insulting him.
The game was stopped for about three minutes. The referee said in his post-match report that he was told by El Hilali that Mir used derogatory terms against him related to immigrants.
The use of the anti-racism protocol came less than two weeks after the first-leg match between Benfica and Real Madrid in the Champions League playoffs was halted for nearly 10 minutes when forward Vinícius Júnior accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him “monkey.”
Prestianni, who has denied racially insulting Vinícius and has been defended by Benfica, was provisionally suspended for one match by UEFA and did not play in the second leg.
Mir converted a 90th-minute penalty kick to secure a point for Elche in a result that extended both teams’ winless streaks.
Elche, who are just outside the relegation zone in 17th place, haven’t won in 10 matches across all competitions, with seventh-place Espanyol winless in nine straight league games.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
