After being criticized by CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) President Ednaldo Rodrigues, for the lack of tougher measures against racism in football, the head of Conmebol (South American Football Confederation), Alejandro Domínguez, countered that the Brazilian positioned himself against the increase in fines imposed on clubs in cases of discrimination.
“Regarding the proposal reiterated by the CBF regarding the modification of the Statute and the Disciplinary Code, it is respectfully remembering that it was the CBF itself who, at the time, expressed opposition to the increase in the values of sanctions established,” says Domínguez in a letter sent to Ednaldo on Monday (24).
The disciplinary code of the entity establishes that the club whose fan is caught by committing discriminatory acts will be fined US $ 100,000 (R $ 576.8 thousand). In case of recurrence, the amount rises to US $ 400 thousand (R $ 2.3 million).
Sought, the CBF did not return until the publication of the matter.
Domínguez also said in the document that the “disciplinary sanctions imposed by Conmebol in racism are aligned with the highest international standards, applied to the most important alloys and confederations in the world.”
Reelected this Monday for a new term at the head of the CBF, the Brazilian top hat has as one of the main flags the fight against discrimination in the sport.
Ednaldo had criticized last week the punishments considered excessively soft applied by Conmebol to Cerro Porteño, after fans of the Paraguayan club they made gestures imitating monkey to Palmeiras players during the departure of Libertadores U20.
Conmebol applied a fine of $ 50,000 to Cerro and determined closed gates in team games in Libertadores under-20.
“The CBF vehemently disagrees with the performance of Conmebol in cases of racism, let alone that the entity is in accordance with the most rigorous measures implemented in the most important alloys, confederations and FIFA,” says Excerpt from Ednaldo’s letter on the 20th.
According to the document, the penalty imposed by the entity to the Paraguayan club was “an innocuous, ineffective and insufficient sanction in the face of the severity of the event, the irreparable damage caused to the athletes and the recurrence of the Paraguayan club.”
Paraguayan, the president of Conmebol spoke in Portuguese during the draw of the Libertadores group stage condemning racism. At the time, however, he said that an edition of the Copa Libertadores without clubs in Brazil would be like “Tarzan without the cheetah”. Domínguez apologized for the statements.
The signature of the president of the CBF even appeared in a letter against racism made together by Conmebol and the other nine federations of South America, with a text to support the measures of the entity against discrimination. After the letter, however, the CBF went back and said disagreeing with the content of the publication and also the way of the recurring cases.
The CBF clarified that the inclusion of Ednaldo’s signature was made by a member of the manager’s office, who would have allowed him to sign because he contained an invitation to a meeting.
“We were pioneers in the global leadership of the fight against racism, implementing measures such as the partnership with the Observatory of Racial Discrimination in Football, the RGC (General Competition Regulation) reform with sports sanctions and the #ComracismãThe game, the FIFA The Best Prize winner,” said Ednaldo after reelection confirmed on Monday.
