The number of recorded cases of racism in Brazilian football has resumed the upward trend, previously reduced, in part, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Report on Racial Discrimination in Football points to 64 cases that occurred last year in the country. If you also include episodes of LGBTphobia, machismo and xenophobia, there are 109.
The document, produced for the eighth consecutive year, was prepared by the Observatory of Racial Discrimination in Football and the Museum of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Folha had access to the data, which will be officially presented this Wednesday (24), by the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), at the Seminar on Combating Racism and Violence in Football.
“We can’t forget that [2020] it was an atypical year, with the occurrence of the pandemic and without the frequency of fans in the stadiums. Thus, we highlight the existence of a high number of discriminatory acts”, says the report.
Prepared since 2014, the document points to an increase in episodes of discrimination in recent years, with the exception of 2020. In cases of racism, as of 2017, the number went from 43 to 47 (2018), then to 70 (2019). In 2020, there were 31. In 2021, with a good part of the season still held with stadiums without an audience, the number reached 64.
In those same years, incidents of LGBTphobia were 10 (2017), 5 (2018), 20 (2019), 14 (2020) and 24 (2021). Machismo had 5 (2017), 18 (2018), 29 (2019), 12 (2020) and 15 (2021). The xenophobia numbers were 4 (2017), 7 (2018), 3 (2019), 4 (2020) and 6 (2021).
The report only takes into account cases that have become public.
“The complaints we receive from social networks we don’t put. Only what was reported by the press. These internet cases can be dangerous. It can be a montage, it can be a fan rivaling another. the numbers will be much higher”, says Marcelo Carvalho, director of the Observatory of Racism in Football.
He is hopeful that with the support of the CBF it will be possible to take this survey to social networks, as happens in England. There, the NGO Kick it Out works alongside the local federation to map cases in the virtual world.
The 2021 report also presents cases that occurred abroad and involve Brazilian athletes. There were ten more episodes of racism, four of xenophobia and one of LGBTphobia.
According to the document, of these 74 cases of racism in Brazil and abroad, in 44 the aggressor is a fan or group of fans, six came from another athlete, in five the origin is a club manager, six were born from members of the technical committee or stadium employee, seven were written by one or more journalists, one was a coach, one was an official consul who represented a team abroad, one was a digital influencer and another three were from the government itself.
Among the victims, the majority (48) were athletes. But there were also targeted referees (3), fans (10), stadium employees or members of the coaching staff (6), player family members (1), former athletes (2) and sports journalists (2). Two other cases involved e-sports practitioners and black models from an advertising campaign to launch the team’s uniform.
“I think people are more attentive, and the football world is talking more about the subject. This debate outside the space of the four lines makes players understand the importance of denouncing”, says Carvalho.
The problem is still the punishments. In general, when there is any, in the sporting sphere, a fine is applied. Among all the cases recorded in the report, only one was the definitive loss of points for a club that was not reversed by higher authorities. And it was in an amateur tournament. União Atlética Ituiutabana was ordered to pay R$1,100 and lose three points because the referee of the team’s match against UAI, by the local league, was called a “monkey” by an unidentified woman.
In the other episodes, what happened to Brusque in October of last year prevailed. Midfielder Celsinho, from Londrina, was called a “monkey” in a match in the Brazilian Series B by a manager of the Santa Catarina club. The STJD (Superior Court of Sports Justice) fined Brusque R$ 60 thousand and sentenced him to the loss of three points in the tournament. After appeal, the team received the points back.
“There is the side of greater awareness, but on the side of those who run football we don’t see this movement. Those who run football are still not mobilizing. Marcelo Carvalho.
The confederation appears in one of the reported cases. The Arco Íris LGBT Citizenship Group questioned in court why the Brazilian team did not have the number 24 shirt in last year’s Copa América. The entity explained in the process that there were issues in the competition regulations and cited the preference of midfielder Douglas Luiz to use the 25.
In a text published at the opening of the report, the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, says that “football has a responsibility to be an instrument to change this [racismo e discriminação] and not [é] simply a passive agent of the historical and sociocultural processes that lead to the mechanisms of oppression, violation of rights and violence”.
Marcelo claims to know that the real statistic is much higher. He knows this from conversations with victims who refuse to report.
“We receive contacts from players. The saddest thing in these cases is not making it public. They just want to vent, they say they are feeling terrible, but they don’t want to report it because they don’t support anyone. The club doesn’t support it, the federation doesn’t support it. it’s very frustrating because we can’t help them”, concludes the director of the Observatory.
CBF wants to institute loss of points in case of racism
The CBF president should propose that teams be punished with loss of points if fans get involved in cases of racism, says ge.com.
The penalty would be valid from 2023, upon approval of the Technical Council of the Brazilian Championship. According to the website, Ednaldo Rodrigues will present the plan at this Wednesday’s seminar.
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
