Edison Cavani’s ban is the new entry to the list of things that we love to make a mountain out of a molehill. He has been banned for 3 games for a post on Instagram. The post in question is this,
The word in question here is “Negrito” which translates to “little black person” or “little dark-skinned person”. In South America, it casually used for someone who is of a darker skin complexion. This term however can also be used in a harmful manner. One such instance is when Suarez called Evra “negrito” in a match between Liverpool and Mcnehsetr United. The incident turned into an ugly brawl on the pitch with red and yellow cards being shown by the referee.
The Cavan’s post, however, is entirely different from that of Suarez and Evra. In Cavani’s Instagram post, he is showing appreciation and giving thanks to his friend. Even FA came out with a statement that meant, “This post isn’t racist, you’re not racist and your intent wasn’t racist but were are going to punish you for being racist”. Here look at the statement by FA.
While it is clear context + intent key factors, note that the independent Regulatory Commission required to impose a min 3 game suspension. Club trusts Commission will make it clear in written reasons that Edinson Cavani not a racist, nor any racist intent in relation to post
The FA have applied English cultural norms on an Uruguay player and punished him for something that is not racist in his culture. This does nothing for the fight against racism it instead takes it in another direction all together which is really sad given there are far more important issued to take care of.
