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- Dani Alves eats banana thrown at him during a soccer match
- The Barcelona player was taking a corner at Villarreal's El Madrigal stadium
- NEW: FIFA president Sepp Blatter calls incident an "outrage"
- NEW: Villarreal find culprit and have banned him for life
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(CNN) -- Barcelona's Dani Alves reverted to humor when dealing with racist abuse but it has proved no laughing matter for the Villarreal fan who threw a banana at him during Sunday's match after being handed a life ban by the La Liga club.
Villarreal issued a statement Monday saying it "deeply regrets" the incident. "The club has identified the person responsible and has decided to withdraw his membership card and prohibit access to the El Madrigal Stadium for life," it added.
Brazilian international Alves was taking a corner during Barca's 3-2 win when the banana landed at his feet. Maintaining his composure, Alves picked up the banana, peeled it and took a bite and got on with the game.
"Dani Alves owned him," tweeted the Brazilian's teammate Neymar. "Take That bunch of Racists. We are all Monkeys So What."
Dani Alves has been applauded for his response to being racially abused during a football match. The Barcelona player had a banana thrown at him during Sunday's game at Villarreal, so he picked it up and took a bite out of it before continuing to play.
Alves' Barcelona and Brazil teammate Neymar was full of praise for his actions. Neymar tweeted: "Dani Alves owned him. Take that bunch of racists. We are all monkeys so what."
AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng suffered abuse from fans friendly match against Pro Patria in January 3, 2013. Boateng stormed off the pitch after being subjected to racist chants.
Dani Alves bites back
Former England international Gary Lineker, who played for Barcelona, also applauded Alves' quick thinking. "Utterly brilliant reaction from Alves," tweeted Lineker. "Treat the racist berk with complete disdain."
Storify: Stars show solidarity with Alves
Meu pai sempre me falava: filho come banana que evita cãibra rsrs, como adivinharam isso? hahaha