Racist abuse sees striker clash with team-mates
Moussa Marega
PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
J
ust when it looked as if
progress was being made
in tackling racism in the
game, the case of Porto’s
Malian striker Moussa
Marega brought
European football
crashing back to reality.
Marega walked off midway through his
side’s Portuguese league win at Vitoria
Guimaraes, protesting that he had been
subjected to racist abuse from the home
side’s supporters. He began to head
towards the dugouts in the 69th minute,
nine minutes after scoring what would
prove to be the winner in a 2-1 victory
that closed the gap on leaders Benfica.
Marega had celebrated his goal by
pointing to his skin in response to a
section of fans who had been targetting
him. To make matters worse, he was
shown a yellow card for his reaction.
As he tried to leave the pitch he
pointed his thumbs down and also
raised his middle fingers to the crowd.
Team-mates Alex Telles, Sergio
Oliveira and Ivan Marcano were among
those who tried to stop Marega leaving
the pitch, grabbing him around the waist
as the arguments ensued for a number
of minutes.
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao was
eventually forced to substitute Marega^
in the 72nd minute.
Afterwards, in an Instagram post,
Marega said: “I would just like to tell these
idiots who come to the stadium to makeracist chants, go f*** yourself. I hope
I never see you on a football field again.
You are a disgrace!
“And I also thank the referees for not
defending me and for giving me a yellow
card because I defend my skin colour.”
Conceicao said: “We are completely
indignant. We are a family regardless of
nationality, skin colour, hair colour. We
are human, we deserve respect. What
happened here is unfortunate.
“We are completely indignant about
what happened. I know the passion that
exists for Vitoria and I think most of the
fans do not see themselves in the same
attitude of some people who have
insulted Moussa since the warm-up.”
The Portuguese Football Federation
denied that a fine of just over € 700
handed to Vitoria Guimaraes was for
racist chants directed at Marega. News
of the small fine sparked outrage on
social media, with Marega commenting
sarcastically, again on Instagram: “Oh
no, that’s a lot! Can I pay it for them
Portuguese league?”
It was Marega’s successful loan spell
at Guimaraes in 2016-17, when he scored
15 goals in 25 games, that convinced
Porto to persevere with a player who
had joined them from Maritimo in
January 2016 but struggled to adapt
to life at a major club.
Following his loan spell at Guimaraes,
Marega returned to Porto and has since
become a key figure under Conceicao.
John Holmesdalereplying to a letter,” said another official.
Ahmad appointed Abdel Bah – who
until two years ago was a junior executive
with the French marketing company,
Lagardere – as Hajji’s temporary
replacement, although Bah plans to
quit Cairo in April and go back to Paris.
It is Infantino who holds the cards
and he is now seemingly searching
for a credible alternative to Ahmad to
present to the CAF electorate for next
year’s elections.
Once found, it is inevitable given the
reliance on FIFA money by almost all the
continent’s associations that whoever
Infantino endorses will be elected.
Mark Gleeson
Enough...Sergio
Oliveira tries to stop
his team-mate from
leaving the pitch