Mônica Bergamo: Justice rejects appeal by a fan who insulted Russian in the 2018 World Cup

The São Paulo Court of Justice rejected an appeal filed by one of the Brazilian fans who insulted a Russian woman during the 2018 World Cup in Moscow. He asked the newspaper Diário do Grande ABC for moral damages after the broadcast of the episode.

At the time, a group of Brazilians surrounded a woman singing “this is very pink”, in allusion to the supposed color of her sexual organ. Not understanding the language, she sang along. The scene went viral and sparked outrage across the country.

Leonardo da Silva Júnior, who was part of the group and appears in the filming, claimed in the action that a report in the Diário do Grande ABC attributed to him the adjectives of “macho” and “harasser” when reporting the incident, in addition to identifying him as a resident of São Bernardo do Campo (SP).

The conviction for moral damages had already been denied in the first instance, but Leonardo decided to appeal. The Justice, however, maintained its understanding that the journalistic vehicle was supported by freedom of the press and that it did not impute crimes to the fan or reveal the exact place of his residence.

“The mention of the author’s name, his profession and the city in which he lives was due to the need to identify the people who were part of the video; it was for informational purposes”, says judge José Carlos Costa Netto.

The fan will now have to pay 20% of the legal fees spent by Diário do Grande ABC.

_{with BIANKA VIEIRA, KARINA MATIAS and MANOELLA SMITH}