Barcelona FC superstar Dani Alves’ reaction to being thrown a banana by a hostile and racist Villareal supporter was a stroke of genius.

The Brazil international picked up the banana, peeled it, took a bite and then went on to play an instrumental part in Barcelona’s comeback to win 3-2 after going 2-0 down.

Following the game, some of his teammates tweeted photos of themselves eating bananas and messages of support along, one of which was Neymar who hashtagged his post “We are all monkeys”.

The few tweets quickly went viral, and a Spanish television presenter was live on air when she promptly whipped out a banana and said: “I am also a monkey”. It has now gone all over the world and it has even prompted a mini craze of people posing for a selfie, eating a banana with the comment “No to racism”.

Dani Alves has managed, in one small gesture, to turn a situation of abuse into one of anti racism. We can only say one thing: “Good on you”.

Racism still rears its ugly head. It has largely been stamped out of the northern European football leagues, but it is still present on the streets. In the Mediterranean, the situation is worse as players in the Spanish and Italian leagues are subject to chants and, as we have seen, references to their being monkeys. Standard Publications has long fought for the rights of immigrants and to help in the fight to stamp racism out, and we will continue to do so.

While it is important to highlight the plight and make people aware of the hardships that African people face in Malta, it is also important to highlight events such as these which transcend language and cultural barriers. After all, that is what football is.

The fundamental message that is being put across is that skin colour is no measure of the capabilities of a person. As Neymar put it, we are all the same, descended from the same ancestors.

Racism and xenophobia are ugly things. Many people try to convince themselves that they are not problems in Malta, but they are. African asylum seekers face discrimination every day, and a recent report has found that some of them are having to ask Maltese people to flag down buses for them because some racist drivers refuse to stop for them.

There is no excuse for racism on any level. Maltese law prevents discrimination and has anti-hate laws, but the behaviour of some continues to undermine the progress that we are making in that regard. People who came here 10 years ago on boats have married – some to Maltese and others to other Africans. But they are now Maltese and so are their children. The children of these people will be the generation of tomorrow – we are all one.