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Watch: Shakhtar Donetsk's Taison sent off for reacting to racist insults

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Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Taison was sent off in a Ukrainian league match against Dynamo Kyiv on Sunday after reacting to racist taunts from the crowd.

Video of the incident (above) shows the Brazilian sticking his middle finger up at a section of Dynamo fans before kicking the ball into the stands.

"I will never stay quiet after seeing such an inhuman and despicable act!" the 31-year-old later wrote on Instagram, as translated by The Associated Press. "My tears were of indignation, repudiation and impotence because there was nothing I could do at that moment! But we were taught to be strong and to always fight! To fight for our rights and for equality!

"In a racist society, it's not enough not to be racist, we must be anti-racist! We need more respect in football, we need more respect in the world."

Both Taison and teammate Dentinho reported the racial abuse to the match official.

Anti-discrimination group FARE Network (formerly Football Against Racism in Europe) said the referee correctly applied the first two parts of UEFA's anti-racism protocol - ensuring a stadium announcement is made and then taking the players off the field for five minutes - but didn't follow through on the third step, which would have been to abandon the match.

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