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Last Updated: Friday, 3 March 2006, 11:44 GMT
Zaragoza seeks truce with Eto'o
I would like to offer you the chance to meet the people of my city. Zaragoza is a friendly, open, tolerant and multi-cultural place
Zaragoza mayor Juan Alberto Belloch's invitation to Samuel Eto'o

Zaragoza's mayor has invited Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o to visit the Spanish city with his family, in order to prove that its citizens are not racist.

The Cameroon striker tried to leave the pitch last Saturday after Real Zaragoza fans directed racist abuse at the player during their Primera Liga match.

"I wasn't at the game but I heard it on the radio and was ashamed. I was so outraged I decided to do something," mayor Juan Alberto Belloch was quoted as saying in the El Pais newspaper on Friday.

In his invitation letter to Eto'o, he said: "I would like to offer you the chance to meet the people of my city. Zaragoza is a friendly, open, tolerant and multi-cultural place.

"I would like to show you and your family the preparations we are working on to host Expo 2008, which should be a symbol of respect to cultures across the world."

Real Zaragoza were fined 9,000 euros ($10,750) by the Spanish Football Federation for the incident.

But Fifa president Sepp Blatter told BBC Sport that the fine was "ridiculous" and did not reflect the seriousness of the offence, a view that is also held by Spain's Anti-Violence Commission.

Eto'o suggested Zaragoza's stadium be shut for a year, to serve as a deterrent to others.


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