Beach volleyball player Carol Solberg classifies as “serious and criminal” the attitude of volleyball player Wallace Souza to make a poll on Instagram asking if “someone would shoot a 12 in the face of [presidente] Lula [PT]”. The athlete deleted the post and later apologized.
“In addition to being very serious and criminal, it is totally irresponsible to incite violence against anyone and, especially, against a democratically elected president”, she tells the column. Carol is in Doha, Qatar, where she participated in a volleyball tournament.
In September 2020, the player was denounced to the STJD (Superior Court of Sports Justice) of volleyball for protesting against then-president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). At the time, Carol shouted “Bolsonaro out” during a live interview, after a match on the Brazilian Beach Volleyball Circuit, in Saquarema (RJ).
At the time, the CBV (Brazilian Volleyball Confederation) also issued a note of repudiation against Carol’s demonstration.
“I was persecuted, judged and experienced horrible things just for speaking out against the former president, for not keeping silent watching a genocide happen on purpose or seeing him act as he did during a pandemic”, says the athlete to the column. Carol was acquitted months later by the STJD plenary.
“What happened now is very serious, and I think the CBV needs to be responsible in assessing this case and not letting things like this happen again”, he adds.
“Political positioning is very different from threatening life,” he says. “And the athlete is a citizen like any other and must respond to the laws like any other”, he concludes.
Regarding Wallace’s attitude, the CBV said this Tuesday (31) that “it repudiates any type of violence or incitement to violent acts and understands that sport is a tool for propagating values such as respect, tolerance and equality”.
After the repercussions, the board of the club Sada Cruzeiro announced the removal and indefinite suspension of the player in the team.
Wallace, who never hid being a supporter of Bolsonaro (PL), made a series of posts on Instagram Stories at the Delta shooting club, in Belo Horizonte, on Monday (30). Among the publications he appears holding a gun and then published the poll on who would shoot Lula in the face.
Wallace’s attitude was condemned by several Internet users, politicians and former athletes such as former volleyball player and Minister of Sports Ana Moser and former swimmer Joana Maranhão.
This Tuesday, he published a video admitting he made a mistake and apologized. “Anyone who knows me knows very well that I would never incite violence under any circumstances, against anyone and especially our president.”
CANDLES
Criminal lawyer Antonio Claudio Mariz de Oliveira attended the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Lawyers of São Paulo (AASP), held in the city of São Paulo, on Monday night (30). The president of the OAB (Order of Lawyers of Brazil) of São Paulo, Patricia Vanzolini, attended. Lawyer Alberto Zacharias Toron was also there.
with BIANKA VIEIRA (interim)KARINA MATIAS and MANOELLA SMITH
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