A Canadian semi-pro hockey league has apologized to a black player who left the ice in the middle of a game because he and his family in the stands were subjected to racist abuse from spectators.

Jonathan Diaby, a 24-year-old defenseman for Marquis de Jonquière of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH), an independent league based in Quebec, said the abuse began after he received a penalty during the first period of Saturday’s game against Pétroliers du Nord in Saint-Jérôme, about 60km northwest of Montreal.

Video footage shows fans climbing the boards and hurling racist insults at Diaby from behind the glass with one fan showing Diaby photos of a monkey on his phone.

“Other people were saying: ‘You big nigger,’ and ‘You baboon,’ telling my dad to go back home,” Diaby told CTV Montreal on Tuesday. “At one point I was in the penalty box and I pulled my shirt over my face because I was almost crying.”

The network reported that several fans surrounded Diaby’s family in the stands during the game, pushing his father and pouring beer on his girlfriend.

The former third-round draft pick of the NHL’s Nashville Predators said he could see the harassment of his family from the ice. After serving a high-sticking penalty during the second period, Diaby left the game, changed in the locker room and departed the 1,264-seat Regional Arena Rivière-du-Nord with his family before the game had ended.

LNAH commissioner Jean-Francois Laplante apologized for the incident in a Facebook video, saying: “Racist, sexist and homophobic comments are unacceptable and intolerable.”

He added: “Intolerance of differences is based in ignorance. To fight this problem we have to denounce it and discuss it, and it’s for this reason that I invite you to share this video.”