Canada ‘deeply disturbed’ by racist abuse of player after Argentina game

Canada Soccer says it is “deeply disturbed” by the racist abuse directed at one of their players following their Copa America opener against Argentina on Thursday.

Canada did not name the player but defender Moise Bombito received racist comments on his Instagram page after his side’s 2-0 loss. The 24-year-old had attracted attention following a tackle on Argentina captain Lionel Messi, where he caught the 36-year-old on the ankle.

Messi received treatment following the challenge but was medically cleared to continue, going on to assist Argentina’s second goal of the game in the 88th minute.

Canada condemned the racist abuse in a statement that read: “Canada Soccer is aware of and deeply disturbed by racist comments made online and directed at one of our men’s national team players following tonight’s match. We are in communication with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL about this matter”

Bombito later responded to the abuse on Instagram, posting: “My beautiful Canada. No room for that BS.”

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram, said: “We don’t tolerate racist abuse on Instagram, and have removed the violating comments directed towards Moise Bombito.”

A CONMEBOL statement read: “We condemn in every place and on every occasion, attitudes of intolerance hiding behind accounts on social platforms under any form of expression.

“This CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 is the biggest and most challenging continental tournament in our history and therefore, today more than ever we will raise our flag against any kind of racist expression.”

“We are now working with the federation and with our colleagues at CONMEBOL and FIFA to seek ways to investigate the accounts which posted racist material,” a CONCACAF statement added.

GO DEEPER

Messi begins the Copa America with only way he knows – a captain’s performance

France trio Aurelien Tchouameni, Kingsley Coman, and Randal Kolo Muani, meanwhile, all received racial abuse on their social media accounts in the aftermath of their national team’s World Cup final defeat by Argentina in 2022. 

There were also reports of racist chanting on the streets of Buenos Aries by Argentina fans, during the celebration of their World Cup victory in 2022 and effigies of France captain Kylian Mbappe were shown on social media with one set of fans holding an inflatable dummy bearing Mbappe’s name tag from a rope; another set fire to a pretend coffin lid emblazoned with the forward’s face. 

Thursday night’s game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium saw goals from Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez secure the 2-0 victory and a winning start to Argentina’s Copa America defence.

Lionel Scaloni’s side face Chile in their next group game on Tuesday, while Canada play Peru earlier that day.

(Top photo: Omar Vega/Getty Images)