Infantino eyes Benfica as global example despite controversy | OneFootball

Although almost a month has passed, the Prestianni - Vinícius Júnior case has once again brought racism in football to the forefront, and Gianni Infantino did not shy away from the subject. As a result, the president of FIFA recently assured that everything is being done to eradicate this phenomenon from the sport, in a clear reference to the much-discussed gesture by Benfica’s number 25 during the match against Real Madrid, saying that “if they cover their mouth, it’s because they’re saying something wrong”.

“There is no place for racism. We have to fight it with all our strength. It’s 2026 and it is unacceptable to discriminate against someone because of their origin. Sometimes, people tell me that racism is a problem in society. Yes, but we, in football, have to solve it within football, and society will deal with it as it sees fit,” he began, in an interview with the newspaper ‘As’.

“Racism has no place in football and there is no excuse for accepting it. Zero tolerance. There’s no point in covering your mouth, because you’re saying something wrong. If a player covers their mouth and says something with racist implications, they should obviously be sent off,” he stated.

However, the head of the world football governing body also believes that these phenomena cannot be fought with punishments alone. The Swiss official argues that those who commit these acts should be given the right to redeem themselves.

“Perhaps we should think not only about sanctions, but also about changing our culture, allowing players or anyone who does something wrong to apologize. We can do things we didn’t mean to do in a moment of anger and apologize, and then the punishment can be different. These are actions we can and should also take to be serious in our fight against racism,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.