The attack on the Brazilian comes at a time when the English clubs themselves are uniting in a campaign against prejudice
The attacking midfielder Willian, do Arsenal, denounced this Friday, 19, several racist attacks who suffered on social networks in the last hours. On his Instagram profile, he published the offenses and made a brief outburst: “Something needs to change! The fight against racism continues ”. The player, with several passages for the Brazilian team, copied “prints” of the comments he received in the last hours. In almost all, the word “monkey” appeared, sometimes accompanied by figures of the animal and bananas. Another tells the athlete to “go back to the jungle”. Some referred to the tie of the Arsenal with Benfica, 1 to 1, on Thursday, through the knockout phase of Europa League. The Brazilian only entered the additions of the match. “We cannot and will not let racism and hatred become normalized in football,” said an Arsenal spokesman hours later.
The racist attack on Willian comes at a time when the English clubs themselves are uniting in a campaign against prejudice. Even rivals like Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and Liverpool set aside differences to issue a joint statement calling for an end to racism. “We all need to work together to end this type of behavior. This includes clubs, responsible entities, fans, the press and politicians. But it requires the help and commitment of social media companies, ”said the Arsenal spokesman, on Friday.
Before Willian, several English football players suffered racist attacks. Among the targets are Marcus Rashford and Lauren James, also from Manchester United, as well as Reece James, from Chelsea, and Alex Jankewitz, from Southampton. In the last few days, Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe, both from United, have also suffered these attacks. “We are committed to using our voice and our support network to strengthen measures and actions taken by relevant authorities to punish those responsible for these abuses, which affects us all. If such an individual is a member of Arsenal, he will be banned from the club ”, said the London team representative.
Day of black conscience, but unfortunately another day of mourning for the death of a black man who was cowardly beaten in Brazil. #vidasnegrasimportam #blackLivesMatter #grief #Black conscience day pic.twitter.com/SrIXZvPya0
— Willian (@willianborges88) November 20, 2020
* With information from Estadão Content
