Fan accused of racial abuse, claims it was homophobic instead

According to Dust2.com.br, a male fan at DreamHack Valencia was reportedly heard calling a group of Brazilian fans “monkeys” during the final of the ESL Impact tournament between Nigma Galaxy and FURIA. The man, of Portuguese nationality and approximately 30 years of age, claims that he was not racist, and instead that he yelled a homophobic slur.

Other fans had reported that a man celebrated a round win by Nigma Galaxy by shouting "monkey" to the side of the Brazilian fans. The Nigma Galaxy fan reportedly denied saying “monkey”, but instead claimed to have said “maraco” which is a homophobic slur in Spanish.

Natacha "Nahzinhaa" Fanganiello, a Brazilian streamer who is broadcasting the event in person, was informed of the complaints and contacted ESL. The tournament organizer spoke to the man who was then expelled from the event.

Several MIBR players were present for the match and tweeted about the man. Mariana “lyttlez” Sabia said “championship final and the enemy's fans making a racist comment is fucked”.

ESL commented on the matter under Dust2.com.br’s post; “We have removed one person from the crowd. Our festivals have zero tolerance against racist comments against players or other fans.”