Lisbon (AFP)
The world of football and Portuguese political leaders on Monday expressed their dismay and solidarity with the Franco-Malian player of FC Porto Moussa Marega, who had abandoned the lawn of Vitoria Guimaraes the day before after being the victim of racist shouts.
"Moussa Marega has been the target of racist insults which must be severely punished," reacted the Portuguese Football Federation, while the League pledged to "do everything to ensure that this episode of racism does not go unpunished".
"We must all express our solidarity with him and the total rejection of this type of behavior," said Prime Minister Antonio Costa, while the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warned of the "dramatic" consequences of the racism and xenophobia.
The Malian Football Federation (Femafoot) has also affirmed its "total support and solidarity" abroad for 28 years, saying in a press release that it "followed with dismay and indignation the racist acts which were the subject of attacking Eagles of Mali ".
The Portuguese association SOS Racisme asked that the authors of racist cries be "severely punished" but was worried about a phenomenon that it considered "transversal to Portuguese society".
- Police investigation -
For his part, former Dutch football star Ruud Gullit said that the two teams should have left the field: "His teammates should have protected him, like the opposing team, by saying + We are leaving the field. is what disappoints me the most, "commented Gullit in Berlin on the sidelines of the Laureus World Sports Awards.
Portuguese police said they were studying surveillance footage from inside the stadium to identify supporters who insulted the FC Porto footballer.
Sunday, the 28-year-old striker decided to leave the field in the 71st minute of a match in the Portuguese Championship. After signing the goal of his team's 2-1 victory (60th), he celebrated it with one of the stadium's black seats that had been thrown to him from the stands, which earned him a yellow card.
Then, exasperated by the racist chants and the monkey cries he heard, he decided to leave the lawn 11 minutes later. Some of his teammates and opposing players tried to dissuade him, but the player nevertheless returned to the locker room a few minutes later, escorted by members of the Porto technical team.
- "We are Marega" -
Former player of Vitoria Guimaraes (2016-2017), the Malian international striker, born in Ulis (suburb of Paris), entered the tunnel leading to the locker room, pointing his two thumbs down in disapproval towards the stands of the Guimaraes stadium, after having addressed fingers of honor to the public.
The next day, the sports press mentioned the incident on the front page to defend it unanimously: "Crime" (O Jogo), "We are Marega" (A Bola), "Marega 5 - Racism 0" (Record).
Vitoria Guimaraes reacted in a press release to affirm that it intended "to censor any manifestation of violence, racism or intolerance".
A notable exception to the outcry provoked by this affair, the main group of Guimaraes supporters used irony to "congratulate the media machine which saw only" racism "against a player but not" racism "of this same player" , in a message posted on his Facebook account.
"If there have been racist attitudes towards Marega or if Marega provoked the supporters of Vitoria, we must condemn both," reacted for his part the only far-right deputy sitting in the Portuguese parliament, André Ventura.
© 2020 AFP