Tottenham forward Richarlison believes racism will continue happening “every day and everywhere” unless punishment is handed out following his own experience of abuse during Brazil’s friendly win over Tunisia in Paris on Tuesday.
A banana was thrown at the former player in the 19th minute after he ran towards the corner flag to celebrate scoring his side’s second goal in a 5-1 win at the Parc des Princes.
Footage showed midfielder Fred kicking the banana away, while other objects were also thrown onto the pitch.
Richarlison posted on Twitter: ‘As long as they stay ‘blah blah blah’ and don’t punish, it’s going to continue like this, happening every day and everywhere. No time bro!’
The 25-year-old received plenty of messages of support on social media, including from former clubs America Mineiro and Fluminense, while his current employers, Spurs, tweeted out a message of condemning the incident.
‘We are disgusted by the racist abuse of Richarlison at last night’s game between Brazil and Tunisia,’ Spurs wrote on Twitter.
‘This has no place in football, or anywhere. We stand with you, Rich.’
Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, a passionate anti-racism campaigner, outlined his frustration at another incident that is likely to be ‘swept under the carpet’.
He told : ‘It just continues. The sanctions are not working, they aren’t hard enough. People are going onto social media and into stadiums feeling it’s fine, nothing is going to happen, I might get a little ban.
‘There’s no barriers, there’s no repercussions, there’s no authority that says this is what we stand for and anybody that crosses that line then bang, take that.
‘No player, or club, or organisation don’t stand tall long enough, so (people think) we can afford to put this under the carpet. Players of colour, black players, players from different backgrounds they can suffer and take abuse, they have taken it for years, they won’t stand up and aren’t unified. That’s how it feels football is right now.’
Prior to the game, five-time world champions Brazil had posed for photographs with an anti-racism banner which read, ‘Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirts’.
The Brazilian Federation (CBF) later issued a statement via Twitter condemning the abuse of Richarlison and calling for strong punishments.
It read: ‘After Brazil’s second goal, a banana was thrown towards Richarlison. The CBF reinforces its stance against discrimination and vehemently repudiates yet another episode of racism in football.
‘Whether on or off the field, attitudes like this cannot be tolerated.’
CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues added: ‘Once again, I come publicly to express my rejection. This time I saw it with my own eyes. This shocks us. We must always remember that we are all the same, regardless of colour, race or religion.
‘The fight against racism is not a cause, but a fundamental (battle for) change to wipe this type of crime from the planet. I insist on saying that the punishments need to be more severe.”
Richarlison’s goal had put Brazil back ahead after Montassar Talbi cancelled out Raphinha’s opener. Neymar added a penalty, Raphinha claimed his second and Pedro wrapped up the scoring after Tunisia had Dylan Bronn sent off.
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