Many years have passed since the fight against racism began to be a constant theme in world sport, in which there are now retrograde displays, insults, ridicule and a sad reality: it will not be easy to eradicate it, especially if those which are called victims are not congruent with his position in this regard
You don’t have to go far. Neymar has just played in another of his long-awaited verbal duels from the court to social networks, justified by his role as a victim of racism against the Spanish defender of Marseille Alvaro Gonzalez, whom he recently accused of calling “a monkey.” ”During a match in France.
Neymar reappeared with PSG after recovering from an injury at the end of last year and scored the goal that gave Mauricio Pochettino his first coaching title for the Parisian team against his fierce rival Marseille. There, Neymar reunited with González, who was not punished after an investigation in which it was not proven that he insulted the Brazilian with the term racist.
On the field, Neymar is a provocateur, plays the role of an innocent victim and then attacks from behind with an enviable talent, natural, but almost always in the service of his personal brilliance. He learned this on the ground in Brazil, where he was constantly hunted for his tendency to dramatize his mistakes.
In Barcelona, this trend decreased slightly, as he enjoyed a more rigid discipline and had less prominence surrounded by the best players, such as Messi and Luis Suárez.
But at PSG, although he is usually overshadowed by Mbappé, Neymar enjoys his challenges in every game. And he plays the role of the victim, because he likes to be pursued, attacked. The problem is that he managed to hang González, a fierce Spanish defender whose fatal mistake was part of the Brazilian’s game, who challenged him in their reunion and, after winning the first trophy of the year, published a photo to and mocks him.
Innocent, González responded to the mockery, but the insults continued and not even the comparison with Pelé diminished Neymar, who continued to mock the man who allegedly insulted her with a racist comment. No one wins, not even Neymar, that if he were really interested in fighting racism, he would learn something from his former teammate at PSG, Edinson Cavani.
The Uruguayan also played recently, in a completely opposite episode – like his career – to what Neymar does.
Cavani received an unfair financial fine and a three-game Premier League penalty following a complaint about a comment he made on social media, in which he called a well-known “Negrito” to thank him.
A campaign began in Uruguay to make managers in England understand that Cavani’s comment was not an insult. Thus, #GraciasNegrito began to be a trend in defense of the culture of much of America, in which it is very common to affectionately call people close to “black” without a racist tone, on the contrary, it is a comment that denotes closeness, confidence, without distinguishing skin tone, but improving it. In this context, Negrito is someone you appreciate, someone close to you. Sure, there is also teasing, but it will always depend on the context and, although Cavani clearly did not do it with racist intent, he received a fine and an unfair punishment.
But unlike Neymar, Cavani did not fall to the ground to cry as the Brazilian usually does. Cavani responded as the greatest athlete in his career and accepted the fine without playing the victim.
True, Neymar’s attitude is not criticized for defending himself against an alleged attack. But his behavior provokes others, which would in no way be a justification for his racist attack. But Neymar contributes little to a fight in which Cavani set the example and even a wine was released with the label “Gracias Negrito”. Neymar does well to defend himself, but does not show the true face of the victims of racism, because one joke unleashes another and the story never ends.
Cavani assured that he will always contribute to the fight against racism and did not debate more, he did not complain. Cavani’s example should persist on the false cries of Neymar’s victim, to whom few, truly few, could affectionately say, “Thank you, Negrito.”