Brazil forward Richarlison faces racist act in Tunisia friendly as fan throws banana at him

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Brazil forward Richarlison encountered a racist incident in a Tuesday football friendly against Tunisia in Paris as a fan in the crowd threw a banana at the Tottenham Hotspur star.

The Brazilian national team hammered 10-man Tunisia 5-1 at Parc des Princes as Richarlison was among the scorers in the game before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Richarlison put the ball into Tunisia's net in the first half as Brazil doubled the gap in the match.

He ran towards the corner flag to celebrate his team's second goal.

A banana was thrown at him from the stands while the 25-year-old was celebrating.

Following the match, the Brazilian Football Association (CBF) condemned the racist act against Richarlison.

The association’s head Ednaldo Rodrigues said he was "shocked" by the incident, and stricter measures against racism should be taken globally.

"We must always remember that we are all the same, no matter what color, race, or religion. Fighting racism is not a cause, it is a fundamental change to sweep this type of crime from the entire planet. I insist on saying that the punishments need to be more severe", Rodrigues said.

Racism is still one of the major global problems in sports, and FIFA and its football confederations have been fighting against it.

In 2019, FIFA announced tougher sanctions to combat racism and any form of discriminatory behavior.

According to the FIFA Disciplinary Code's Article 13, which was named Discrimination, whomever performs any discriminatory or derogatory words, or actions are sanctioned for "at least ten matches or a specific period, or any other appropriate disciplinary measure."

If a club or association's supporters do it for the first time, the club or association will play a match with "a limited number of spectators" and fined at least CHF 20,000 or nearly $20,180.

If the violation is repeated, FIFA may impose further sanctions such as a fine, points deduction, playing one or more matches without spectators, forfeiting of a match, or expulsion from a tournament.