The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, denounced this Wednesday (24) the Racist insults against Brazilian striker Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) during a match in Spain and called for joint efforts to eradicate this scourge from sport.
“We appeal to all these sporting events in the world to confront, combat and prevent racism”, declared Turk, at a press conference in Geneva, before highlighting that the new incident is a “brutal reminder of the prevalence of racism in sport” .
On Sunday (21), the 22-year-old Real Madrid striker was the target of insults, including racist ones, during his team’s 1-0 defeat by Valencia.
The incident had a huge impact in Spain, where cases of racism have been reported for several decades in stadiums, without resulting in real criminal sanctions.
In this specific case, Turk welcomed, however, “a very strong reaction from the authorities”, noting that “they started arresting people very quickly afterwards”.
“An investigation must take place. This is a subject that will concern the Justice”, he added.
For the UN’s top human rights official, “those who organize sporting events take the issue very seriously.”
While acknowledging the many positive aspects of the sport, Turk says that you also have to “deal with the dark side”.
The High Commissioner has asked his services to prepare a guidance report on the issue of racism in sport.
“We want to propose a certain number of clear ideas about norms relating to human rights in sporting events”, he insisted, citing the problems of participation, inclusion and the “fight against stigmatization and racism”.
“We found discrimination across a wide range of issues, including gender discrimination and discrimination against LGBTI people who also attend sporting events,” Turk said.
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It must be absolutely clear – he stressed – that “racism is completely unacceptable” and, in this sense, he asked everyone to do an examination of conscience.
“Do I have a prejudice? (…) How do I react when I see another person launching a racist insult? (…) Do I settle down, do I respond to it?”, he questioned.
“We have to find ways to completely eradicate it in the 21st century. That requires everyone to face (the problem),” he added.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
