Sao Paulo (AFP)
The Brazilian government said Tuesday it supported Paris striker SG Neymar, and denounced the "racism" against him, exercised according to the player during the meeting between the Parisian club and Marseille, Sunday in the French Championship match.
"Faced with yet another case of racism in sport, the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH) is in solidarity with the player Neymar Jr," said a statement.
"Racism is a crime," adds the ministry.
Sunday, the "clasico" between two clubs known to maintain a certain rivalry was marked at the end of the meeting by the exclusion of five players.
Among them, Neymar, for slapping Alvaro Gonzalez on the back of the head.
The Brazilian striker complained to the referees, repeating over and over again "racismo, no!"
("racism, no!", in Spanish), pointing to the Spanish defender.
Paris SG supported its star who, after the match, violently attacked Alvaro Gonzalez on social networks: "My only regret is not having hit that asshole in the face", had- he writes hot on Twitter.
The Parisian club "firmly supports Neymar who told him that he had been the victim of racist insults by an opposing player," PSG said in a statement.
As for Olympique de Marseille, he let it be known that his player was not racist: "He demonstrated it to us by his daily behavior since his arrival at the club, as his teammates have already testified", he writes.
On Tuesday, the National Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality in Brazil "vehemently condemned all types of violence" and denounced "cases of discrimination based on skin color".
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday retweeted a message from Neymar in which the attacker complained that the VAR (video arbitration) had detected his "aggression" but not that, verbal and "racist", of Alvaro Gonzalez against him.
© 2020 AFP