Being banned for three games and hit with a £100,000 fine isn’t the best way to start the new year, but that’s exactly what Edinson Cavani has had to deal with after being charged with racism by the Football Association.
The charge relates to one of his Instagram posts where he used the word ‘negrito’ after being congratulated by a friend for his part in United’s win at Southampton in November.
It was said that he was unaware that there were any racist connotations in English, and the player was at pains to point out that it was intended as an expression of affection.
That appeared to fall on deaf ears at the FA, with the Daily Mail noting that the phrase was ‘improper and brought the game into disrepute.’
Cavani reluctantly accepted the charge, meaning that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won’t be able to call upon his services for the Carabao Cup semi-final against Man City, the FA Cup tie against Watford and the Premier League game against Aston Villa.
In a further post, the Uruguayan hit back.
“I do not want to extend much in this uncomfortable moment,” Cavani wrote on Instagram.
“I want to share with you that I accept the disciplinary sanction knowing that I am foreign to English language customs, but I do not share the point of view.
“I apologise if I offended someone with an expression of affection towards a friend, nothing further in my intention. Those who know me know that my effort always seeks the simplest joy and friendship!
“I appreciate the countless expressions of support and affection. My heart is at peace because I know that I always expressed myself with affection according to my culture and way of life. I send you a sincere hug.”
Once the ban has been served, hopefully that will be the end to the matter.
In Spanish we say “carbon” or “mierda” and you can throw in a lot of other words including “negrito” which has no correlation to being black at all. In fact the person being referred may not even be coloured at all.
We use more explicits in English than hispanic people, the Americans even call each other “niger” without raising concerns.
The only disrepute here is due to interpretation and not by society but perhaps by one or two people in some governing body. There was no malice in what Cavani said, the malice was in the interpretation of the word. Shame!
On this occasion the FA was an extremist with Cavani, in Spanish saying negrito does not necessarily imply racism, it can mean affection towards the person and it looks like it was Cavani’s intention. Any phrase taken out of context, even in the same language, can lead to misinterpretation. Here the phrase was completely taken out of context, to the point that it was taken to another language, with different rules. It is abusive.