Mutual Uruguaya de Futbolistas Profesionales om ‘Negrito’-sagen, Twitter, 4. Januar 2021)

I juledagene var der fuldt program i Premier League, og på tribunen så jeg atter en kæmpe Black Lives Matter-banner. Den slags er værd at huske på, når nu Manchester United-spilleren Edinson Cavani har fået tre spilledages karantæne, en bøde på 100.000 pund og krav om deltagelse i et ‘two-hour face-to-face online education course’ fordi han på Instagram har brugt ordet ‘Negrito’. Tilbage i 2011 havde Liverpools Luiz Suarez en lignende sag – de er begge fra Uruguay, hvor ordet er ukontroversielt.

Hysteriet er udenfor kategori, og det officielle svar fra Uruguays spillerforbund er den helt rigtige måde at takle den slags på. Fra The Guardian – Uruguay players’ union calls on FA to overturn Cavani’s three-match ban.

“The Uruguayan players’ union has called on the Football Association to overturn Edinson Cavani’s three-game ban for using the word ‘negrito’. …

The statement, which has been widely shared by several high-profile players, including Atlético Madrid’s Luis Suárez, read: ‘Firstly, we must condemn the arbitrary conduct of the English Football Association. Far from condemning racism, the English Football Association has itself committed a discriminatory act against the culture and way of life of the Uruguayan people.

‘The sanction shows the English Football Association’s biased, dogmatic and ethnocentric vision that only allows a subjective interpretation to be made from its particular and excluding conclusion, however flawed it may be.

‘Edinson Cavani has never committed any conduct that could be interpreted as racist. He merely used a common expression in Latin America to affectionately address a loved one or close friend. To sustain that the only way to obtain a valid interpretation in life is that which lies in the minds of the managers of the English Football Association is actually a true discriminatory act, which is completely reprehensible and against Uruguayan culture.’”

“They invaded and usurped lands they still own, persecuted and executed people for thinking differently, enslaved, prohibited rights, and were champions of religious intolerance. Today they are judges of morality, regardless of context and culture. We are with you, Cavani.“ (Club Plaza Colonia jf. Tribal Football, 2. januar 2021)