[ad_1]
(Reuters) – The Uruguayan Academy of Letters on Friday denounced a three-game suspension imposed on Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani, calling the penalty for alleged racism an example of a lack of “cultural and linguistic knowledge” of English football.
The 33-year-old Uruguayan used the word “negrito” in an Instagram post after the club’s victory over Southampton on November 29, before removing it and apologizing. He said it was intended to be an expression of affection towards a friend.
On Thursday the FA said the comment was “inappropriate and discredited the game”, fined Cavani £ 100,000 and ordered him to complete “face-to-face education” as part of his punishment.
The academy, an association dedicated to protecting and promoting the Spanish language used in Uruguay, said it “strongly rejected the sanction.”
“The English Football Association has committed a serious injustice to the Uruguayan athlete … and has shown its ignorance and error when pronouncing on the use of the language, and in particular of Spanish, without noting all its complexities and contexts”, the academy said in a statement.
“In the context in which it was written, the only value that can be given to the black – and particularly for the diminutive use – is affectionate.”
Words that refer to skin color, weight and other physical characteristics are often used among friends and relatives in Latin America, especially in the diminutive, the academy said.
In that context, they are expressions of cuteness and are often used regardless of the subject’s appearance.
United said Cavani decided not to contest the charge out of respect for the FA and the “fight against racism in football.”
“My heart is at peace because I know that I always expressed myself with affection according to my culture and way of life,” he wrote on Instagram.
(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Edited by Daniel Wallis)
[ad_2]
