Spanish police arrests a man linked to the racist incident at Villareal

The racist incident took place as the player was
about to take a corner in a match at Villarreal on
Sunday.

Alves responded by peeling and eating the banana
- which received praise worldwide and sparked a
large social media campaign against racism.

The man detained has been identified as a 26-year-
old Villarreal supporter.

He has been named as David Campaya Lleo, local
media say.

The club said earlier the man involved had had his
season ticket withdrawn and been given a lifetime
ban.

The Barcelona defender expressed his surprise at
the outpouring of support in the wake of the
banana affair.

His team eventually won the match
3-2, at Villareal's El Madrigal stadium in Castellon on
Spain's east coast.

Alves told BBC Brasil on Wednesday it was "not an
isolated incident", and that he had been
denouncing racist insults for six years.

"I hope that this (campaign) can be an alert to ban
this kind of attitude from football altogether.

I hope
the debate about racial prejudice will not fade
away, but stays on permanently and not be
restricted only to football," he added.

Lifetime ban Reports suggest the suspect in detention may have
had links to one of the Villarreal's youth teams,
although the team has not commented on this.

In a statement earlier this week, Villarreal said the
club "deeply regrets and condemns the incident".

In earlier comments to Brazil's Radio Globo, Alves
said he wanted the opposition fan who threw the
banana to be publicly shamed.

He also criticised Spain for its approach to racism,
saying: "They sell the country as being first world
but in certain things they are very backward."

The hashtag "we are all monkeys" took Twitter by storm after fellow Brazilian footballer Neymar
tweeted a photo of himself smiling on Instagram
with a banana, side by side with his toddler son.

Professional footballers, celebrities and ordinary
people alike have since posted photos of
themselves, banana in hand, on social media.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi became the latest
public figure to join the campaign when he posed
for reporters, sharing a banana with Italian football
coach Cesare Prandelli.