The Grêmio women’s team left the field during a confrontation against River Plate, from Argentina, valid for the semi-final of the Brasil Ladies Cup, after a rival athlete imitated a monkey towards a ball boy in the match, played at the Canindé stadium, in São Paulo. Paulo this Friday (20).
The gesture took place amid widespread confusion after Grêmio scored a goal, which tied the match, in the 38th minute of the first half, with Maria. Julieta Romero had opened the scoring for the Argentines.
The Argentines had a disagreement with the ball boy, the Grêmio players got involved in the fight and the match was stopped for 30 minutes. Afterwards, six River players were expelled and the match ended because there was not a minimum number of athletes on the team. Thus, Grêmio went to the final and will face Bahia in the final.
According to Grêmio, its athletes were also the target of racist acts from Argentine women. In a statement of repudiation, the club said it registered a police report and “will do everything possible to ensure that the case results in punishment for those responsible.”
River Plate also spoke out. The Buenos Aires club said that it repudiates the discriminatory acts that occurred during the match and that it will take corresponding disciplinary measures.
This Saturday (21) the Brasil Ladies Cup announced the maximum punishment for River Plate for what happened: exclusion from the competition and suspension from the tournament for the next two years.
On Friday, the competition organizer had already repudiated the episode and said it would provide the necessary support to the victims. “It is sad that the development of women’s football, through a tournament that is being shown throughout the country and also abroad, is hampered by a regrettable event”, says the note.
