Sebastián Avellino’s gesture during the match between Universitario of Peru and Corinthians of Brazil.
The encounter between Universitario de Deportes of Peru and Corinthians of Brazil for the last 16 of the Copa Sudamericana could have been another of many if one of its protagonists hadn’t been locked up in Brazil for a week and a half for impersonating a monkey. Last Tuesday, the Corinthians eliminated the Creams at the Monumental Stadium in Lima after beating them unchallenged in the two games of the series, despite using substitutes, mostly young talents. The result was predictable. In reality, the news was the uncertainty surrounding the Peruvian club’s fitness coach, Uruguayan Sebastián Avellino Vargas. Not only because it was not known how long his preventive detention in São Paulo would last, but also because the matter had destabilized Universitario and his technical command, who were considering resigning.
“If I can’t take this very difficult situation, I have to be honest with them and the club.” Better let other people help. Right now I’m getting it, carried by faith,” said Uruguay’s Jorge Fossati, La U coach, after a win in the local tournament. The unexpected happened on Thursday: the Brazilian judiciary, which initially rejected a habeas corpus filed by Avellino’s defense, ruled that the 43-year-old Uruguayan would respond to the trial at liberty. Even if he has the power to return to Lima, rejoin his team and make his statements via video call.
Judge Antonio María Patiño justified his decision by saying that Avellino posed no danger to society beyond his reprehensible actions. “This does not remove the heinous and disproportionate burden of the accused’s crime, but it is not apparent from such an episode that the accused, if provisionally released, poses a threat to society or public order,” the São Paulo Court’s decision read. According to the Uruguayan press, Fossati’s right-hand man was released from Marcelo Pires da Silva’s prison on Friday, collected his passport, spoke to his family and was ready to return to Lima.
“I thank God because he answered the prayers, not only from us but from many people who supported him,” said Fossati with a face that is clearly different from the one of the last few days. Neither he nor the varsity club leaders could apologize or show a clear stance against racism. They weren’t even able to pronounce the word. The U branded Avellino’s simulation a “reaction” in his explanations, putting his hands under his armpits and cringing slightly at the Corinthians bar’s “verbal attacks.”
For his part, Fossati compared one of the celebrations of a Corinthians forward – he took off his shirt in a provocative move and showed it to the Peruvian bar, a copy of what Messi did in a Spanish derby – to what Sebastián Avellino did, describing it as a “gesture”. “He laughs in his face and we attribute that to the fact that he never left the country. But for a gesture, they have a fitness trainer in prison and here you have to excuse him because the poor thing is young,” he said, verging on anger.
In Brazil, racism is a crime that does not allow for questioning. It is significant that since 2014 there has been a body called the Observatory on Racial Discrimination in Football, dedicated to monitoring racist, homophobic, misogynistic and xenophobic acts in stadiums. The penalty for cases of racial defamation ranges from two to five years in prison. Tolerance is complicit, as is approval without self-criticism.
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