MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Palmeiras says sanctions against racist Cerro Porteño too lenient

A Paraguayan fan holding a child was caught on camera imitating a monkey as Figueredo left the pitch to be substituted

Officials from the São Paulo football club Palmeiras said the South American Football Confederation's sanctions issued Sunday against Paraguay's Cerro Porteño following last week's racist incidents were “extremely lenient.”

Palmeiras vowed to escalate the case to higher authorities, advocating for zero tolerance for racism in the sport, given the Conmebol's “soft and innocuous” response, which was deemed “insufficient to combat the repeated cases of racial discrimination in South American football.” Club President Leila Pereira requested that Cerro Porteño be excluded from the competition, but the club was only fined US$ 50,000 and ordered to play the following matches behind closed doors.

Last Thursday, during the match between Palmeiras and Cerro Porteño at the Gunther Vogel Stadium in Asunción, a Paraguayan fan, who was holding a child, was caught on camera imitating a monkey as Brazilian player Figueiredo was leaving the pitch to be substituted.

Striker Luighi was also targeted with racist insults. He told the referee that he had been called a “monkey”, which led to a brief stoppage of play. Visibly shaken, the 18-year-old cried on the bench and let off steam during the post-match interview. “You're not going to ask me about the act of racism that happened to me today? Really? How long are we going to go through this? Tell me, until when? What they did to me is a crime. Aren't you going to ask me about it?” Luighi asked the official Conmebol broadcast team.

“The sanctions against Cerro Porteño, instead of serving the purpose of curbing a very serious problem, in practice demonstrate the connivance of the entities with a crime that has been repeated incessantly, as well as the bankruptcy of a penal system incapable of punishing with the necessary rigor the crimes of racism committed on the pitch and in the stands,” the Brazilian club said in a statement.

“Palmeiras reiterates that it will take the matter to the highest bodies in world soccer and will take the episode to the last instances so that South American soccer can finally become an environment of zero tolerance for racism. Luighi's tears will not be in vain!”