Soccer player says he was the target of racism at Zara – 06/23/2023 – Market

The Civil Police is investigating a complaint of racism that occurred at a Zara store, located in a shopping center in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro. Soccer player Guilherme Quintino claims he was prevented from leaving the establishment and forced to show where the pieces he had given up buying were.

Quintino already played for Flamengo and Botafogo youth teams and is currently at Volta Redonda.

In a note, Zara stated that it is investigating what happened and that the approach reported by the player is not the company’s practice nor does it reflect its position and values.

The case was registered at Decradi (Delegation of Racial Crimes and Intolerance Crimes). According to the incident report, the player claims that he went to Zara, in Barra da Tijuca, on Sunday (18), accompanied by his girlfriend to buy clothes.

In the store, Quintino used a bag provided by the store to transport some pieces. However, he says he gave up on the purchase and hung the bag on a support. When trying to leave the store, a security guard would have approached him and asked him to show where the clothes he was carrying were.

“I felt completely embarrassed, cornered, discriminated against. Unfortunately, racism exists, we see it a lot on television, but I felt how it hurts”, he told Sheet the player.

Still according to the record, the security guard kept in touch with another person by cell phone, receiving guidance on the approach. Quintino showed where he had left the bag, when an employee, white, found the clothes.

The couple films the situation and customers who witnessed the act begin to point out the discrimination. Another couple appears in the images returning the purchases they had made. “I will not take anything from a racist store,” says a customer in the footage.

Images from security cameras and a list of employees who were working at the time of the approach have already been requested.

In a statement, Zara also stated that it does not tolerate any act of discrimination. See the note in full:

“Zara is a company that does not tolerate any act of discrimination and regrets that the customer has felt discriminated against in one of its stores. The company points out that it is reinforcing all processes and service policies with the teams so that its stores are always a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all.”