Richarlison faces racial abuse during Brazil-Tunisia friendly

A banana was thrown at Richarlison, the Tottenham and Brazil forward, while he was celebrating his goal during Brazil’s friendly against Tunisia in Paris on Tuesday. 

The incident happened when Richarlison ran towards the corner flag after scoring the second goal in Brazil’s 5-1 victory. The video of the incident shows fans throwing a banana, and other objects, as Richarlison and the other Brazil players returned from the sides to restart play after the goal.

Watch the video here.

Also read: 5 Brazilian footballers who faced racism

Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) issued a statement condemning the incident. The CBF said, “After the second goal of Brazil, a banana was thrown in the direction of Richarlison,” adding, “the CBF reinforces its position against discrimination and strongly repudiates an episode of racism in football.”

Prior to the match, the Brazil team had posed for a photograph with a banner that said, “Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirts.” 

The racism row has rocked Brazil football again recently when Vinicius Junior’s dancing goal celebration was compared to a monkey by the President of the Spanish Football Agents’ Association (AEAF) Pedro Bravo. Vinicius hit out by issuing a statement in which he attacked the agent for racial abuse. 

Also read: Never stop dancing: Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr hits back at racist comments

The row reached its peak when the forward celebrated fellow Brazilian Rodrygo’s goal during Real Madrid’s game with Atletico. The Athletico fans had chanted “Vinicius is a monkey” before the start of the match. 

Following the CBF’s statement, the president of the CBF came forward and also issued an individual statement condemning the incident with Richarlison. He said, “the fight against racism is not a cause, but a fundamental (battle for) change to wipe this type of crime from the planet. I insist on saying that the punishments need to be more severe.”