A group of protesters gathered to support the central Maurício Souza on Saturday morning (30) in front of the headquarters of Minas Tênis Clube, near Praça da Liberdade, in Belo Horizonte. Composed mostly of club members, the group defended the player, fired for spreading homophobic messages on the internet.
Participants in the act accused Minas of making a “dictatorial judgment” of the athlete. The volleyball player, Olympic medalist with the Brazilian team, criticized the sexual orientation of the new Superman and triggered a crisis with the fans and with the club’s sponsors.
Cláudia Diniz, 52, a civil servant and one of the organizers of the demonstration, criticized Minas’ decision to fire Maurício. “We do not feel represented by this summary decision, as it was made. We do not understand that there was an error or crime committed by him. Nothing that would justify a dictatorial judgment, where there is only one prevailing opinion.”
She said the reaction to the post was excessive. “There was a massacre with the intention of defending a minority, but they are cruelly attacking the father of a family. They took away his source of income. These are very serious things,” he said. She said the case was an attack on free speech and that “there is no homophobia of any kind.” According to the public official, the club will receive the demonstrators for a meeting next Wednesday (3).
Luciana Rezende, who was also protesting at the site, said that the group defends that Minas Tênis is non-partisan. According to her, the resignation of Maurício led the club to be left-wing. “My desire as a mother is that the club is neither left nor right, that it is neutral in this matter of ideology, which is a very serious thing,” she said.
Romoaldo Fiuza declared that Brazil lives in a state of exception in which people cannot express opinions and credited the athlete’s dismissal to the sponsors: “We are living under pressure from Europe. Is the opinion that has to prevail theirs? It’s crazy.”
When contacted, Minas Tênis Clube informed that it has nothing to declare about the protest. Maurício Souza, on the other hand, did not respond to attempts to contact him.
The next match of the Fiat/Gerdau/Minas team will be this Saturday, at 20h, against Farma Conde Vôlei São José, in Belo Horizonte.
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