Colombian striker says he suffered racism in Argentina during a game for Sudamericana – 05/24/2023 – Sport

A complaint of racism by the Colombian player Hugo Rodallega shook South American football this Wednesday (24), days after the strong worldwide repudiation provoked by the case of the Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior in Spain.

Hugo Rodallega, of Independiente Santa Fe, said he was called “monkey” and black” in an argument during the game against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata in Argentina, for the Copa Sudamericana, on Tuesday.

“We don’t improve as humanity, it’s a disaster what happens all over the world, it’s sad that we come here and this happens. I’m not saying that we lost the game because of the people, but the issue of racism is tiring”, lamented Rodallega in statements to the official broadcast of the match, which ended with the victory of Gimnasia by 1 to 0.

The complaint comes at a time of worldwide concern regarding racism due to the attacks suffered by Brazilian Vinícius Junior, from Real Madrid, in last Sunday’s game against Valencia, in the Spanish Championship.

This Wednesday, the vice president of Gimnasia, Juan Pablo Arrien, repudiated the racist insults received by the Colombian.

“We as an institution repudiate any specific and individual act that has taken place against the player,” said Arrien, who added that the club is working to identify the people who offended Rodallega.

“It doesn’t just happen in Europe”, admitted the manager of Gimnasia. “Football still has a lot to learn, but we have to fight to improve in everything we can.”

Conmebol also repudiated the insults to Rodallega and opened an investigation into the case, a federation source told AFP.

A year ago, Conmebol launched the campaign “Enough!– Enough of racism in football”, to combat acts of discrimination in South American football.

Among the various episodes of prejudice in recent years, mostly against Brazilian teams, three Boca Juniors fans were arrested in São Paulo for making racist gestures in a game against Corinthians in the round of 16 of the 2022 Copa Libertadores.

A year earlier, Flamengo denounced racist chants at Conmebol by fans of Paraguay’s Olímpia against their players in the quarterfinals of the main continental tournament.

tougher punishments

Conmebol toughened punishments for cases of racism.

Any player or official who insults or attacks the human dignity of another person or group of people “will be suspended for at least five games or for a period of time of at least two months”, says one of the provisions of the entity.

In 2022, the fine imposed on the responsible club increased from US$30,000 (R$148,000) to US$100,000 (R$494,000).

In addition, teams can be punished with games behind closed doors or with partial banning of the stands.

The most recent cases were those of Racing, from Argentina, and Nacional, from Uruguay, who were fined this week at US$ 100,000 by Conmebol for racial discrimination.

Racing fans uttered discriminatory shouts against Flamengo fans and players at the Juan Domingo Perón stadium, in Avellaneda, in the 1-1 draw between the teams, for the third round of the Libertadores group stage.

In turn, Nacional was fined the same amount and later received another fine of US$ 10,000 because its fans displayed bananas and imitated monkey gestures against Internacional de Porto Alegre on May 3, also for Libertadores.

Conmebol has warned that the Uruguayan club could be fined US$400,000 if this type of episode is repeated.