Uruguayans defend Cavani: Gracias negrito

Edinson Cavani took to social media to thank a friend for a card with "gracias negrito" and the diminutive for dark-skinned people, which is acceptable in Uruguay, he caused himself big problems in England.

The Football Association (FA) suspended him for three matches and fined him £100.000. Matador said he did not understand the punishment but accepted it, and Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer said Cavani had learned the hard way what was unacceptable in England.

The reaction of the Association of Professional Footballers of Uruguay also arrived, which came to the defense of the second scorer and the third player with the most appearances in the national team.

"The members of the Association of Professional Footballers of Uruguay, which consists of male and female footballers, as well as players from the amateur sector, want to express the following position regarding the punishment imposed by the Football Association of England on our colleague Edinson Cavani:

First of all, we must condemn the arbitrary actions of the English Football Association. While condemning racism on the one hand, the Football Association itself has committed an act of discrimination against the culture and way of life of the Uruguayan people. This punishment shows that the Football Association is biased, dogmatic and ethnocentric and that it allows only subjective interpretation, and thus makes partial conclusions, however superficial they may be.

Edinson Cavani has never done anything that could be considered racist behavior. He simply used an expression that is used in Latin America when you address close friends and loved ones. Claiming that the only way to see the world correctly is the way the leading people of the Football Association do it is actually a real act of discrimination, which in this case is directed against the Uruguayan culture.

That is why we want to publicly defend Edinson Cavani, his indisputable character and the culture of living in our country. We are all against any form of discrimination. Through its punishment, the Football Association has unfortunately shown that it is based on ignoring the multiculturalism of the world, while at the same time imposing strict anti-racist rules with which we agree, but which were not realistically applied in this case. In this way, not only one person was punished, but an entire culture, a way of life, and that in itself is an act of discrimination and racism.

We invite the Football Association to consider the way it makes decisions in these situations, so that nothing similar happens in the future. The rules of the Football Association should be understanding of the diversity of cultures and traditions. The first rule of the fight against racism is to respect different cultures and ways of life.

We demand from the Football Association to immediately cancel the imposed punishment that damages Edinson Cavani's reputation", the statement of the Association, which was shared on its social networks with the hashtag #GraciasNegrito, states.