Shocking moment ex-Premiership star PUNCHES opponent after allegedly being subjected to vile ‘deeply racist’ abuse
A former Scottish Premiership star has been involved in a shocking incident while playing for his new club.
The dramatic scenes saw the defender PUNCH an opponent, who he alleges racially abused him.
Apollon Limassol and AEL Limassol went head-to-head in the Cypriot Cup quarter-finals.
Former France star Mathieu Valbuena’s 41st minute effort looked to have won it for Apollon before all kinds of added time drama.
A Pedro Marques penalty in the 90th minute made it 2-0 before an AEL penalty made it 2-1 in the 94th minute.
Marques struck again instantly after and that looked to be that.
But horrific scenes then arrived right at the final whistle.
And former Livingston defender Luiyi De Lucas was one of the players at the centre of the incident.
Having made 22 Premiership appearances, De Lucas left Livi last month after a year in Scottish football.
Citing homesickness, the 29-year old who’s from Dominican Republic moved to Cyprus to join AEL.
The centre-back was involved in the ugly scenes at the end of this rivalry clash, with pictures captioning the chaotic moment.
Moments after the referee blows for full-time, Apollon’s Eliel Peretz can be seen saying something to De Lucas.
The two players then walk towards each other before De Lucas dramatically swings and lands a huge PUNCH to Peretz’s face.
De Lucas then swings a kick at Peretz, who moves away as other players rush to the scene.
Teammates can then be seen holding a visibly furious De Lucas back from getting at Peretz any further.
Peretz can then be seen approaching once more, and further words between the players are exchanged.
The referee showed a red card to both players.
It was unclear at the time what had exactly happened, but it was seemingly clear that the former Livingston man was left incensed by something that had been said to him.
De Lucas, today, has broken his silence on the matter and alleges that he was racially abused by his opponent.
And he says he has now informed the police about the matter.
The defender issued an apology for what he described as his own “reckless behaviour.”
But De Lucas says his actions came about after he was allegedly subject to “constant repeated insults of deeply racist and personal nature.”
In a lengthy statement posted to X, he said: “With this statement I want to address all the fans of Cyprus, the friends of AEL, the Football Association and all the competent authorities.
“I express my sincere apology and regret for the incident after the cup match. My actions were unacceptable and unprofessional and I want to apologise firstly to my fellow footballer, but also to everyone for my reckless behaviour.
“In my professional career I have never had such an incident before. In all the teams I have played for, my behaviuor on and off the field was completely professional and I never had a confrontation with either another colleague or a teammate.
“In no way do I justify my actions. Unfortunately my mind was clouded by the unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour of the opposing player from the moment he entered the game.
“During his game I received constant repeated insults of a deeply racist and personal nature. I don’t want to give basis to words being used against me as I hope to move on.
“Never in my professional career have I experienced this level of verbal racism on the field, the frustration and humiliation I was experiencing was clouding my judgement and my mind. My reaction was an extremely poor attempt to stop what was happening to me.
“I want to reiterate clearly that there is no excuse for my actions. Being a part of such a fine sport as football that promotes fair play, I feel it is important to provide some clarity as to what I was experiencing prior to my actions.
“I have already filed a complaint with the Cyprus Police with the help of my lawyer and I have already started the process of reporting the racist behaviour against me to the Competent Authorities of KOP, Uefa and Fifa.
“I want to apologise again to everyone for my behaviour and emphasise that my actions have no place in this sport. Moving forward, I am solely focused on supporting my team and my club.”
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