Canada Soccer says it is “deeply disturbed” by racist abuse directed at one of its players following the Copa América opener against Argentina on Thursday.
Canada did not name the player, but defender Moise Bombito received racist comments on his Instagram page after his team’s 2-0 loss. The 24-year-old caught attention after a tackle on Argentine captain Lionel Messi, where he caught the 36-year-old on the ankle.
Messi received treatment after the challenge, but received medical clearance to continue and assisted Argentina’s second goal of the match in the 88th minute.
Canada condemned the racist abuse in a statement saying: “Canada Soccer is aware and deeply disturbed by the racist comments made online and directed at one of the players on our men’s national team after tonight’s match. “We are in communication with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL on this matter.”
Bombito then responded to the abuse on Instagram, posting: “My beautiful Canada. There is no place for that nonsense.”
Bombito and Messi during the match (Omar Vega//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram, said: “We do not tolerate racist abuse on Instagram and have removed the offending comments directed at Moise Bombito.”
A CONMEBOL statement said: “We condemn in every place and on every occasion the attitudes of intolerance that hide behind accounts on social platforms under any form of expression.
“This CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 is the largest and most challenging continental tournament in our history and therefore, today more than ever we will raise our flag against any type of racist expression.”
“We are now working with the federation and our colleagues at CONMEBOL and FIFA to look for ways to investigate accounts that posted racist material,” a CONCACAF statement added.
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Meanwhile, French trio Aurelien Tchouameni, Kingsley Coman and Randal Kolo Muani received racial abuse on their social media accounts following their team’s World Cup final loss to Argentina in 2022.
There were also reports of racist chants in the streets of Buenos Aires by Argentine fans, during the celebration of their World Cup victory in 2022, and effigies of France captain Kylian Mbappé were shown on social media with a group of fans holding an inflatable doll with the name of Mbappé. name tag made of string; another set fire to the lid of a mock coffin adorned with the striker’s face.
In Thursday night’s match at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, goals from Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez secured a 2-0 victory and a winning start for the Argentine defense in the Cup America.
Lionel Scaloni’s team will face Chile in their next group match on Tuesday, while Canada will play Peru on the same day.
(Top photo: Omar Vega//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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