World Cup 2018: Brazil chiefs slam fans for ‘racist’ abuse of Man City midfielder Fernandinho after Belgium own goal
Racist abuse hurled at the 33-year-old comes off the back of death threats issued to him and his family on social media after Brazil crashed out of World Cup losing to Belgium
THE Brazil Football Federation (CBF) have slammed fans for racially abusing Fernandinho and his family following World Cup defeat to Belgium last Friday.
Fernandinho put through his own goal to open the scoring before Kevin De Bruyne doubled the Red Devils’ lead before half-time as the tournament favourites crashed out of the quarter-finals.
The Manchester City man and his family have also been sent death threats after losing to Roberto Martinez’s side.
Social media users called him a “monkey” and his wife, Rosa Glaucia, also found her Instagram account full of insults.
Fernandinho’s mother was forced to close her Instagram account due to the barrage of abuse on her page.
And the CBF have leapt to his defence releasing a strong statement on social media condemning the abuse.
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They said: “The CBF repudiates the racist attacks suffered by Fernandinho and his family.
“Football represents the union of colours, genres, cultures and people. We are with you. Racists will not pass!”
It's not the first time that Fernandinho has found himself in the bad books of Brazilian supporters.
He was one of the players blamed for the horror 7-1 defeat against Germany at the 2014 World Cup, in which he was hauled off at half-time with the score already at 5-0.
And incredibly, Brazilian sports newspaper Lance claimed their exit in Russia was due to Fernandinho wearing No 17 at the tournament - a reminder of the loss against Joachim Low's men.
They bizarrely stated that he should have worn the number 25 which he does at City.