The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) fined River Plate with $30,000 after one of the Argentine club’s fans was filmed throwing bananas at visiting Brazilian Fortaleza supporters at a Copa Libertadores match.
CONMEBOL said it would “increase and toughen” sanctions after a series of racist incidents denounced by Brazilian clubs. River Plate condemned the incident, which occurred on April 14, and media reports said the fan had been banned by the club for 180 days.
Earlier this week, an Argentine fan was arrested by the Sao Paulo police in the Corinthians vs Boca Juniors match after being filmed making monkey gestures. Other racist incidents were recorded in matches involving Brazilian clubs in Chile and Ecuador.
“Any racist manifestations or other forms of violence are absolutely unacceptable,” CONMEBOL said in a statement, adding that it would introduce new anti-racism programs at different levels of the game. The body will change its regulations to increase and toughen penalties in case of racism. He did not specify what the changes would entail.
Rodrigues (CBF), sad and worried
The statement came after the CBF president spoke with his CONMEBOL counterpart about recurring incidents in the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.
“These cases of racism, especially in the last matches of the Libertadores, have caused concern and a lot of indignation and sadness in the CBF,” Rodrigues said in a video posted online.
And he called for an “international crusade” against discrimination and racism and invited clubs, law enforcement, media and judicial authorities to meet with FIFA and the CBF in June to discuss what form it might take.
The meeting will also discuss violence in soccer, a possible reference to a series of attacks and threats against players in Brazil. And it is that in recent months, at least two team coaches were attacked with stones or explosive devices in Brazil, and the players of two of the best teams, Corinthians and Internacional, have received threats through social networks.
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