There are lines that cannot be blurred. Racism is one of them. No context can mitigate it, no club passion can excuse it, no victory can relativise it. We cannot tolerate intolerance, Bruno Batista writes in an opinion article for Euronews.
Racism is a crime. Full stop. It must be treated as such, inside and outside stadiums.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
When it involves fans, players, coaches, or managers, the response must be firm, clear and exemplary.
The heavy hand of the law is not excessive. It is necessary. Impunity is the real scandal.
Football is not just a game. It is a mass social phenomenon, a magnifying mirror of society, a space where values are reproduced and legitimised.
What happens in a stadium does not stay in a stadium. It echoes in schools, on social media, and in coffee shop conversations.
For this very reason, football has an added moral obligation. To set an example. To elevate. Not to normalise the unacceptable.
In yesterday's episode at Estádio da Luz, there are facts we still don't know. We don't know what was said. We do, however, know what was done.
The gesture of covering one's mouth with a shirt is common. It suggests the intention to say something that one does not want to be reproduced either by sound or lip-reading.
That, in itself, is not proof of racism. But it is reason enough to raise suspicions. And the mere suspicion of a racist act deserves to be investigated. For the sake of decency in sport. For the dignity of all those who are part of this spectacle.
Investigating is not condemning. Clarifying is not attacking. On the contrary. It is protecting. Whether to prove or to acquit. The Benfica player should repeat the words he addressed to Vinicius, so it's clear what caused such tremendous confusion.
And here it is important to be clear. Individual behaviour is one thing. The institution is quite another.
Our symbol? Eusébio
Sport Lisboa e Benfica is a club with history, with a global dimension, and with a brand built on values that span generations. Inclusion, universality, respect, merit and social responsibility.
For decades, Benfica has been a home of diversity and integration. A global brand of values and value. Suffice it to recall that its greatest and most beloved symbol is named Eusébio da Silva Ferreira.
For this very reason, in this specific case, Benfica should be the first to take an interest in restoring clarity. In ascertaining the facts. In taking action if there are grounds for doing so.
Not because of external pressure, but for internal consistency. To make clear the integrity it has always defended and the identity of a respected and respectable club.
Racism is not provocation. Racism is not the heat of the game. Racism is not rivalry. Racism is a crime. Rivalry is passion. Racism is exclusion. Rivalry builds narratives. Racism destroys people.
Vinícius may have been provocative in his goal celebration. He may have inflamed the stands. That's part of the game. You fight with football, talent, results, and fair play. Never with insults, dehumanisation, and hatred.
Martin Luther King reminded us that what was most worrying was not the cries of the wicked, but the silence of the good. In soccer, that silence is complicit.
Every time you whistle at the side, you lose a little bit of the game. Every time you relativise racism, you impoverish the sport.
As a fan, I want to know
I am a Benfica fan. And that is precisely why I want to know what happened. Love for a club is not measured by moral blindness, but rather by the ability to demand more when it comes to what is essential.
Football without values is just a bunch of mammals running after a ball. And I refuse to accept that as destiny.
Football can and must be better. Racism has no place in the game. Not in the stands. Not on the pitch. Not anywhere.
Bruno Batista is a Portuguese sports commentator, communications expert and Benfica fan.