Football and all sports will undoubtedly generate rivalries. However, that doesn’t mean sportsmanship should be forgotten. In an age where social media is king and privacy becomes almost nonexistent, you should always be careful with your words. Even better is to avoid tasteless comments in a potentially public environment.
In an unfortunate event in Spain’s Segunda División B (Third Division in rank,) Javi Polo from Trival Valderas tackled Diego Llorente from Real Madrid Castilla. The latter got hit in the head and had to be taken out of the match. Fortunately for all, Zinedine Zidane’s pupil avoided the hospital.
Polo’s conversation regarding his tackle
While this may seem like the type of thing you see on football pitches everywhere, what really matters in this story is what happened off the pitch. 22-year-old Javi Polo left the ground after the 0-0 draw and connected with his friends . In a Whatsapp group chat (pictured), Polo bragged about the incident, stating that “he sent Diego Llorente to the hospital.” The comment was tactless and could’ve been avoided.
Javi didn’t know Diego wasn’t actually taken to the hospital. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long for him to find that out, as the Madrid youngster replied via Instagram (pictured.) The defender tagged his rival and “corrected” him by confirming that no hospital was needed. In addition, he added that he wished him good luck in the season, because his team would need it.
Llorente’s response to Polo
Trival Valderas is sitting at the last spot of their group, seriously threatening their chances at staying in the division. On the other hand, Castilla are first in their group and hope to return to the Segunda División. It may be impossible to control what people say in private, yet decency is a quality that everyone should strive to possess.
At the time of writing, Polo has apparently apologized and Llorente has removed the response and accepted the apology. Overall, this is the type of news we should never have to read in football. Making fun of potentially harming a rival and colleague is unacceptable. Javi has probably learned a valuable lesson, and most likely will have to reevaluate his friendships and his comments.
