The Portuguese club Vitoria Guimarães announced on Sunday evening that it will open an investigation after a player in Porto was the victim of racist shouts from some of his supporters. The club condemned the behavior that led the 28-year-old Franco-Malian striker from Porto to leave the pitch in the 71st minute of this Portuguese championship game.
"Moussa Marega has been the target of racist insults who must be severely punished", reacted on Monday, the Portuguese Football Federation, while the League pledged to "Do everything to prevent this episode of racism from going unpunished".
"We must all express our solidarity with him and the total rejection of this type of behavior", said Prime Minister Antonio Costa, while President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warned of the consequences "Dramatic" racism and xenophobia.
The Portuguese association SOS Racisme asked that the authors of racist cries be "Severely punished" but worried about something she judges "Transversal to Portuguese society".
"You are a shame! "
After signing the goal for his team's 2-1 victory (60th), Marega celebrated it with one of the stadium's black seats thrown from the stands, earning him a yellow card. Then, exasperated by the racist chants and the monkey cries he heard, he decided to leave the lawn eleven minutes later.
Some of his teammates and opponents tried to dissuade him, but the player returned to the locker room, escorted by members of the Porto technical staff.
Former player of Vitoria Guimaraes (2016-2017), the Malian international striker, born in Ulis (suburb of Paris), entered the tunnel leading to the locker room, pointing his two thumbs down in disapproval towards the stands of the Guimaraes stadium, after having addressed fingers of honor to the public.
"I would just like to say to these idiots who come to the stadium to utter racist cries … go make yourself f ….. And I also thank the referees for not protecting me and for giving me a yellow card because I defend my skin color ", Moussa Marega wrote on his Instagram account that evening, with emoticons representing the fingers of honor.
"I hope I will never see you again on a football field! You are a shame! ", added the insulted player, in capital letters.
"We will never be Marega and Conceição"
After the match, Porto coach Sérgio Conceição said he was "Completely outraged by what happened". "We know the passion that exists at Vitoria and I think that most fans do not recognize themselves in the attitude of some people who insulted Moussa during the warm-up."
“We are a family, regardless of nationality, skin or hair color. We are all human, we deserve respect. What happened here is lamentable ", he added.
The coach also posted a photo on his social media, with the following message: "We are all Moussa".
A group of Guimaraes ultra supporters, the White Angels, has meanwhile broadcast a message in which it approves of the acts targeting the attacker. " We will never be Marega and Conceição ", affirms this message, which explains that a " tifo was produced, as always, by whites and blacks. It was made with the love we have for our victory. A love 'Racist' because we only accept being black and white. These supporters accuse the media of being behind the racist character of the songs they sang.
