By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – Despite all the pre-World Cup rhetoric about the tournament helping to reduce racism in Brazilian football, leading club Gremio have just been banned from the country’s main cup competition after some of their fans abused a Santos player.
The first leg of the last-16 tie, which Gremio lost 2-0 at home, was marred by monkey chants and other taunts directed at Santos goalkeeper Aranha. The teams were supposed to play the return leg in São Paulo on Wednesday but the match was postponed.
“By a unanimous verdict (the decision was taken) to exclude Gremio from the Brazil Cup and to fine them 50,000 reais (£13,500) and ban from stadiums for 720 days those fans already identified and those that may still be identified,” said a statement issued by the five-member disciplinary commission of the Superior Court of Sporting Justice, the country’s highest sports tribunal.
At least the authorities appear to be trying to clamp down hard. The penalty against the Porto Alegre club was the toughest ever against a Brazilian side whose fans were accused of racism.
“This is a landmark ruling,” said the commission head, Fabricio Dazzi. “I don’t think racial abuse incidents like that will happen again. The fans will think twice, knowing that their club can be punished for their acts.”
The court also banned the match referee for 90 days and fined him 1,600 reais for not taking the correct action or properly reporting the incident in his match report. His assistants were banned for 60 days and fined 1,000 reais.
Aranha reacted angrily at the abuse, which happened in the 87th minute. The referee reportedly insisted he did not hear the racial insults and thought Aranha was time wasting.
Ironically Gremio had launched an anti-racism campaign entitled “enough” and are expected to appeal the sentence. “I believe the decision was too harsh. Gremio has done everything it could to identify the guilty fans,” said club president Fabio Koff who denied the club was institutionally racist.
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