A complaint of racism by the Colombian player Hugo Rodallega shook South American football this Wednesday, days after the strong worldwide repudiation provoked by the case of Brazilian striker Vinícius Júnior in Spain.
Hugo Rodallega, from Independiente Santa Fe, stated that he was called “monkey” and black” in an argument during the game against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata in Argentina, for the Copa Sudamericanaon Tuesday.
“We don’t improve as humanity, it’s a disaster what happens all over the world, it’s sad that we come here and this happens. I’m not saying that we lost the game because of the people, but the issue of racism is tiring”, lamented Rodallega in statements to the official broadcast of the match, which ended with the victory of Gimnasia by 1 to 0.
The complaint comes at a time of worldwide concern regarding racism due to the attacks suffered by the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior, from the Real Madridin last Sunday’s game against Valenciafor the spanish league.
We are all Vinicius. Just ya. pic.twitter.com/UiTqfKkW5P
— Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) May 24, 2023
This Wednesday, the vice president of Gimnasia, Juan Pablo Arrien, repudiated the racist insults received by the Colombian.
“We as an institution repudiate any specific and individual act that has taken place against the player,” said Arrien, who added that the club is working to identify the people who offended Rodallega.
Not only in Europe
“It doesn’t just happen in Europe”, admitted the manager of Gimnasia. “Football still has a lot to learn, but we have to fight to improve in everything we can.”
Conmebol also repudiated the insults to Rodallega and opened an investigation into the case, a federation source told AFP. A year ago, the organization launched the campaign “Enough! – Enough of racism in football”, to combat acts of discrimination in South American football.
Among the various episodes of prejudice in recent years, most against Brazilian teams, three fans of the Boca Juniors were detained in São Paulo for making racist gestures in a game against Corinthians in the round of 16 of Libertadores Cup of 2022.
A year earlier, the Flamengo denounced at Conmebol racist shouts from fans of the Olympiad of Paraguay against their players in the quarterfinals of the main continental tournament.
Tougher punishments for racism
Conmebol toughened punishments for cases of racism. Any player or official who insults or attacks the human dignity of another person or group of people “shall be suspended for at least five games or for a period of time of at least two months”, says one of the provisions of the entity.
In 2022, the fine imposed on the responsible club increased from US$30,000 (R$148,000) to US$100,000 (R$494,000). In addition, teams can be punished with games behind closed doors or with partial banning of the stands.
CONMEBOL condemns any manifestation of racism and other forms of violence and expresses its support for the player @vinijr.
Football is synonymous with equality and respect on and off the pitch.#EnoughRacism
— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) May 22, 2023
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.
