The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced on Friday that it would file a complaint against the authors of racist messages on the internet targeting its president and Seleçao players after the defeat against Argentina on Tuesday (1-0).
The CBF “will take legal measures against those involved in these attacks against players, supporters and the president (of the confederation) Ednaldo Rodrigues”, we can read in a press release.
Real Madrid striker Rodrygo had already denounced racist attacks on social networks on Thursday, and had received the support of other Brazilian stars, such as Neymar and Vinicius.
The attacks denounced by the CBF compare Brazilians to monkeys and directly target Ednaldo Rodrigues, first black president of the football federation of the five-time world champion nation.
In Brazil, racism is a crime punishable by five years in prison.
“We will take all necessary measures each time attacks of this type recur, there will be no truce,” insisted the CBF.
The defeat suffered at home against Argentina is the third setback suffered by the Seleçao in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, after Uruguay (2-0) last month and Colombia (2-1 ) a week ago (2-1).
The “superclasico” against the reigning world champions was punctuated by clashes at the Maracana stadium which delayed the kick-off by half an hour.
The police intervened forcefully to quell this fight between supporters of the two countries, who found themselves in the same stand due to a lack of dedicated parking for visitors.
In the Under-17 World Cup taking place in Indonesia, Argentina eliminated Brazil 3-0 in the quarter-finals on Friday. Publications devoted to this CBF match on its social networks were the subject of several racist comments from Internet users.
