SAFA president to write to FIFA following Vinícius Jr racial abuse
SAFA president Dr Danny Jordaan will write a proposal to FIFA following the racial abuse of the Brazilian star Vinícius Jr.
Vinícius suffered racist abuse [by fans] in Real Madrid‘s loss to Valencia last weekend [Sunday 21 May 2023] at Mestalla Stadium during a La Liga clash.
While the 22-year-old was identifying a fan involved in the racial abuse, the game was interrupted for five minutes.
Therefore, the SAFA president is writing to request the world football governing body to “investigate whether there’s a link between the racial abuse of players during games and match manipulation.”
This comes after the Vinícius incident did not sit well with Dr Jordaan.
DR JORDAAN LINKS GEORGE FLOYD INCIDENT TO VINÍCIUS JR’S INCIDENT
“You know, 25 May is a celebration of Africa Day. And Africa Day focuses on Africa being the best the continent can be, its successes and achievements. And always in May, something happens,” Dr Jordaan told SAFA’s media department.
“The month of May has strangely always reminded us that we have a lot of work to do. On 25 May 2020, George Floyd was murdered in the streets of Minneapolis, USA. He died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck and choked him for nine minutes.”
The SAFA president said that he never thought a similar incident occurring in May would still happen again in 2023. Especially when Brazilian football star, Vinícius Jr, is the victim of racial abuse from fans.
“Now, on 23 May 2023, we had the terrible racist incident. One of Brazil’s superstars, Vinícius Jr, was abused on the field of play. And what made it worse is the fact that he was given a red card for the way he reacted to the incident,” he added.
“This is not the first time he succumbs to abuse at stadiums. This is the 10th time he has faced racial abuse in La Liga. The question is, what needs to happen about this?
“So in my address to COSAFA [during the Council of Southern Africa Football Association’s AGM in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Friday, 26 May 2023], I said we must do something about it. Therefore, I will submit a proposal to FIFA that the governing body must look at whether racism [during matches] can be placed in the context of match manipulation.”
WHAT IS MATCH MANIPULATION TO SAFA PRESIDENT?
Dr Jordaan went on to describe what match manipulation means. He explained it as people from outside the field of the play trying to influence the outcome of a match.
“This is certainly what the fans are doing and what the referee has done [during the Real Madrid vs Valencia match]. In fact, the match manipulation regulations state that if a referee issues unwarranted red cards and yellow cards, it can be interpreted as match manipulation.
“So I am going to submit the proposal to FIFA. This is because every single African player has gone through the same thing. You speak of Abedi Pele, George Weah, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o, among others.
“Now, the current generation of players are going through the same thing. It must stop and we will be part of that process to deal with racism on the football field.”
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