image source, fake images
The insult was simultaneous with the presentation of Ronaldinho as a Querétaro player. Photography Getty Images.
They have called it one of the greatest signings in the recent history of Mexican soccer.
However, the arrival and presentation of the Brazilian star Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, Ronaldinho, to the Querétaro team of the Mexican first division was overshadowed by a racist insult against him by a politician.
It happened on Friday night, during the Querétaro match against Puebla, in which Ronaldinho was introduced to the fans for the first time.
The vehicular chaos caused by the number of people who arrived at the La Corregidora de los Gallos Blancos stadium (as the team is also known), found that the former secretary of Municipal Social Development of Querétaro, Carlos Manuel Treviño Nuñez, described as “ape “Ronaldinho on social networks.
On his Facebook account, the militant of the National Action Party (PAN, right), published: “I seriously try to be tolerant, but I HATE FOOTBALL, and the stupefying phenomenon that it produces… I hate it even more because people get in the way and flood the avenues to make it take two hours to get home… And everything to see an APE… Brazilian but still an ape. This is already a ridiculous circus”.
The message was deleted minutes later, but several people and the media had already copied and reproduced it.
Early this Monday morning Treviño apologized via Twitter for his comment:
“A sincere apology to the @Club_Queretaro to his fans for my unfortunate expression. As a person and player @10Ronaldinho has all my respect.”
In the afternoon, he published a letter that he sent to the Querétaro club on Monday, in which he reiterated that his comment had been “absolutely reckless” and publicly apologized to Ronaldinho and “to everyone he has hurt.”
repercussions
The BBC Mundo correspondent in Mexico, Juan Carlos Pérez Salazar, pointed out that a scandal had taken hold over the weekend.
On Saturday, the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred) announced that it had opened an ex officio complaint against the PAN member.
“Conapred opens an ex officio complaint for racist expressions against the soccer player Ronaldhino from @Club_Queretaro @FEMEXFUTOFICIAL”, is excluded by his Twitter account.
By Sunday, a campaign of support for Ronaldinho had already been generated on social networks – promoted by colleagues of the Brazilian soccer player in Querétaro – with the hashtag #TodosSomosApes, which this Monday continued to be one of the most reproduced and popular in the country.
In a statement, the soccer team called for an exemplary punishment: “we urge the authorities to take action on the matter and we affirm that we will go to the last consequences.”
Also on Sunday, the director of the PAN in Querétaro, José Luis Báez, said that he will request the suspension and expulsion of his fellow party from the movement.
A reaction from Ronaldinho, 34, has not yet been known for this issue.
scandals
The correspondent turned out that the PAN, which governed the country between 2000 and 2012, ending a hegemony of more than 70 years by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has recently been shaken by several scandals.
The most recent was a luxurious party with ballerinas from table dance that PAN deputies carried out when -according to the media- they were discussing the 2014 legislative agenda.
For this fact, the coordinator of the PAN parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies was relieved of his position.
The scandal over the racist insult against Ronaldinho shows no sign of abating this Monday, with the Excelsoir newspaper opening with the news and the digital editions of the main media following it.
Finally, the correspondent turned out that the match between Queretaro and Puebla ended tied at one goal and the hero was Cuahutémoc Blanco, who at 41 years of age scored the goal for the people from a penalty at minute 94.
