Kiev (AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday supported footballer Roman Zozulya of the Spanish club Albacete, victim of supporters' chants calling him "Nazi" Sunday in a second division match that was finally suspended, an event deemed "unacceptable" "by Ukrainian diplomacy.

"Roman Zozulya, it's not only your team that supports you, the whole of Ukraine supports you," wrote the Ukrainian president on Facebook.

"We are with you," said Zelensky, saying that Zozulya was "not only a cool player but a real patriot."

"The insults and threats against Roman Zozulya are absolutely unjust and unacceptable," protested the Ukrainian embassy in Spain.

Ukrainian diplomacy spokeswoman Kateryna Zelenko had previously called on the Spanish authorities to "react" to these "shameful and unfounded insults" in a statement.

"Xenophobia, incitement to inter-ethnic hatred and brutal hooliganism", added on Facebook the president of the Ukrainian football association Andriï Pavelko.

The match was interrupted by the referee in the first half, part of the ultras of Rayo Vallecano, popular anti-fascist club of Madrid, having chanted "Zozulya is a Nazi!" and "the fascists outside Vallecas".

The Albacete players then refused to return to the lawn after the break, in solidarity with their teammate. The referee and the Spanish football federation finally decided to suspend the match.

Roman Zozulya, 30, had already been the target of some Rayo Vallecano supporters in 2017, who accused him of links with the far right, which the footballer denied in an open letter to the club's fans.

On the other hand, he never hid having made donations to the Ukrainian army fighting since 2014 against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, a war that left more than 13,000 dead.

In 2016, Mr. Zozulya even auctioned his medal received in Ukraine for his participation in a Europa League final and donated around 8,000 dollars obtained to a foundation supporting the army.

In 2015, he published on Twitter a photo with a scarf bearing the image of Stepan Bandera, leader of Ukrainian nationalists in the 1930s and 1940s and a controversial figure whose organization had briefly fought Nazi Germany, but also collaborated with she.

Other photos showed him with soldiers or in trellis, a machine gun with him.

© 2019 AFP