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Manchester City have dismissed Porto’s “misjudged criticism” after the Portuguese club targeted Fernandinho, Pep Guardiola and Bernardo Silva, who were incorrectly described as “convicted of racism.”
Porto’s play came after City drew 0-0 at Estádio do Dragão in the Champions League on Tuesday and is the latest outbreak involving the clubs. In an official bulletin, Porto referred to Silva, a Portugal international, as “an opponent of ours who is known internationally for having been convicted of racism.”
Silva was sanctioned last year for a match after tweeting an image of his City teammate Benjamin Mendy next to the controversial logo of the Spanish confectionery brand Conguitos, but the independent commission of the Football Association wrote: “His tweet was not intended to be racist. or offensive in any way. “
After the reverse game in October, which City won, Porto coach Sergio Conceição accused Guardiola and his team of haranguing the referees, which Guardiola rejected. Before Tuesday’s game, Conceição described Silva as “childish” in a tweet that followed the City victory in which the midfielder wrote: “This one felt so good!”
Porto’s bulletin claimed Guardiola had a “bad disposition after the meeting” on Tuesday and quoted Conceição as saying: “It would also bother me if he couldn’t win with the team he has and the budget he has.”
Regarding Fernandinho, the letter said: “Despite being 35 [he] is a clear example that football money counts for a lot, but it doesn’t buy class or notion. “In response, a city spokesman said:” This is not the first time that Porto has reacted badly in circumstances like this. On occasion, it is the misjudged and misdirected criticism of some of our players, and indeed of our coach, that we completely reject.
“In 2012, the last season we found them, it was the club’s denial of the clear racist behavior of their fans, for which they were investigated and fined. In this context, the latest outbreak is almost as surprising as it is disappointing. “
The aforementioned incident occurred at Dragão in February 2012, when Uefa discovered that City forward Mario Balotelli had been the victim of racial abuse by Porto supporters.
Joleon Lescott, who was in the City XI at the time and was a BT expert for the game on Tuesday, tweeted: “I miss reading the Porto statement, the game seemed comfortable to me. The annoying part is the claim of racism. Racism should not be ignored and trying to deflect it is not going to work. Clearly selective memory, I am sure they will receive a fine for targeting Mario in 2012 only as a memory ”.
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