On Sunday night (March 9), Palmeiras’s under-20 team faced Independiente del Valle-Equ at the Gunther Vogel stadium in Paraguay for the third round of the Copa Libertadores U-20 group stage.
Before the start of the match, the players of both teams held a symbolic protest in support of striker Luighi, victim of racist attacks during the clash against Cerro Porteño.
The athletes formed a circle on the lawn and, with a cerrado fist, expressed their indignation against acts of racism, reinforcing the struggle for equality and respect in football.
Understand the case
The episode of racism occurred during the match between and Cerro Porteño, when Paraguayan fans uttered racist insults against Brazilian players.
During the second half, a fan, holding a child on his lap, made monkey imitation gestures towards Figueiredo, Palmeiras player. Shortly thereafter, Luighi reported being called a “monkey” by another fan. Thrilled and outraged, the attacker cried in the bench.
. Visibly shaken, he questioned the press’s lack of interest in addressing the case of racism:
“No no. Is that serious? Are you not going to ask me about the act of racism that occurred today with me? It is serious? How long will we go through this? Tell me, how long? What they did to me is a crime, won’t you ask about it? ”Said Luighi.
Next commitment
The group C leader of the competition is classified to the semifinal and will face Belgrano in the next phase of Libertadores, in a match scheduled for next Thursday (13), in a place and times to be defined.
