KYIV: The Ukrainian Premier League on Monday called for an inquiry after a Brazilian player for Shakhtar Donetsk was sent off for responding to racist abuse with an obscene gesture.
Footage of Shakhtar’s game against Dynamo Kyiv on Sunday showed midfielder Taison displaying his middle finger to the Dynamo away fan section and kicking the ball into the stands.
Anti-discrimination group FARE Network said the referee implemented the first two steps of UEFA’s anti-racism protocol — making a stadium announcement and taking players off the field — but didn’t move to the third step, which would be to abandon the game.
“I will never stay quiet after seeing such an inhuman and despicable act!” Taison wrote on Instagram late Sunday.
“My tears were of indignation, repudiation and impotence because there was nothing I could do at that moment! But we were taught to be strong and to always fight! To fight for our rights and for equality!
“In a racist society, it’s not enough not to be racist, we must be anti-racist! We need more respect in football, we need more respect in the world,” he said.
Taison has played eight games for the Brazilian national team. He moved to Ukraine in 2010 with Metalist Kharkiv and joined Shakhtar three years later.
The league said it “deeply regrets” the incident and condemns racism.
“The UPL believes that the competent disciplinary organ will investigate this case as a priority,” the league said.
Dynamo has a history of far-right involvement in its fan base.
At a Champions League game against Chelsea in 2015, a group of supporters chased black spectators through the stands and beat them. Since that incident, which led to sanctions from UEFA, Dynamo’s players have often worn anti-racism messages on their uniforms instead of sponsors.
That hasn’t been popular with sections of the club’s fan base. FARE posted a picture of what it said was a sticker made by Dynamo fans ahead of the Shakhtar game reading “like racism.”
“Today my players showed their strong character once again, the character they showed during the whole match,” Shakhtar coach Luis Castro said after Sunday’s game, which his team won 1-0.
“I would like now to support all of those suffering from racism, those guys who faced it today, because racism is unacceptable,” he said. “It is, it was and it will be a shame for all, and we all have to fight against it every day, every minute and every second.”
Brazilian player sent off in Ukraine for reaction to racism
Brazilian player sent off in Ukraine for reaction to racism
- “I will never stay quiet after seeing such an inhuman and despicable act!” Taison wrote on Instagram late Sunday
- The league said it “deeply regrets” the incident and condemns racism
Morocco part company with coach Regragui as World Cup looms
RABAT: Morocco parted company with coach Walid Regragui on Thursday, three months before the World Cup, with the country’s football federation naming Mohamed Ouahbi as his replacement.
Regragui leaves despite having led the Atlas Lions to the World Cup semifinals in 2022 and to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of this year.
“I leave my post with loyalty, gratitude, and the certainty that I have served my country,” he declared during a ceremony broadcast live on television, confirming weeks of persistent rumors that he was on his way out.
Ouahbi, 49, is promoted to the role having overseen Morocco’s triumph at the Under-20 World Cup in October, with the federation describing the move as “a strategic transition” in the run-up to the World Cup in North America in June and July.
“It’s a desire not to waste time and to take a different direction,” a source close to the Moroccan Federation told AFP.
“By appointing Mohamed Ouahbi and welcoming top-tier reinforcements, we are raising our standards and our demands,” the source said.
Morocco will be in Group C at the World Cup along with five-time winners Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
They begin their campaign against Brazil at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City on June 13 and will be hoping to make a big impression at the tournament before co-hosting the 2030 edition with Spain and Portugal.
“Our ambition is to consolidate our place among the best nations in a sustainable way and to perform well from this summer, as well as in 2030,” the leader of the Moroccan federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, said recently.
Regragui was hailed in 2022 after Morocco became the first African nation in World Cup history to reach the semifinals, beating Spain and Portugal along the way.
However, Regragui likely paid the ultimate price for the manner in which Morocco lost the recent AFCON final to Senegal.
His team were beaten 1-0 after extra-time at the end of a match marred by the Senegal team’s decision to walk off the pitch in protest at the award of a controversial late penalty to the hosts.
The penalty award with the game goalless sparked trouble in the crowd involving Senegal fans, 18 of whom were jailed following the disruption.
Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz eventually took the penalty after a long delay but his kick was saved and Senegal went on to win the game.
