Seydou Keita explains why he threw a water-bottle at Pepe
AS Roma midfielder Seydou Keita has revealed that Pepe spat on him and provoked him before the start of the friendly between his club and Real Madrid in a Guinness International Champions Cup match at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Keita was first seen denying the Real Madrid centre-back a pre-match handshake and then throwing a water bottle at him thus renewing his rivalry with the Portuguese that dates back to his El Clasico days.
The Malian took to his Twitter account to explain his side of the story.
“He called me a monkey during a Real-Barça match. I didn't shake his hand and he spat at me, so I threw a bottle at him” he said on the social media website.
“I think I have the right not to greet someone who treats me this way. It’s impossible to accept him spitting on me”, he said in another tweet.
According to Marca, the former Barcelona star talked to RF1 where he elaborated saying
“Back when I played for Barça he called me a macaque, i.e. a monkey. From that moment onwards, I've seen him as a good-for-nothing. I haven't spoken about it in public before because it wasn't worth it, but that's why I didn't want to shake his hand”
"It's unacceptable for someone to spit at me. I really don't see why I should have to shake his hand, since in his eyes I'm not a human being", the veteran railed.
"I have no interest in discussing things with a person who doesn't consider me a human being. The way he behaves is out of order. Instead of coming over and asking me why I didn't shake his hand, he chose to spit at me"
A grainy video of the spitting incident has now come to light.
You can watch the spitting incident at 1:40
Here is the video of the Keita’s snubbed handshake and bottle throw at Pepe