Brazil and Santos striker Neymar has opted against lodging an official complaint over the now-infamous banana-throwing incident that occurred towards the end of the international friendly between Brazil and Scotland at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Neymar scored both goals in Brazil’s 2-0 win, but drew the ire of Scottish fans for embellishing several fouls and was jeered for much of the match. How things went from fairly standard booing to someone lobbing a banana - a gesture frequently used to taunt players of African descent in Russia - is unclear.
Neymar Will Not Pursue Racism Complaint After Banana Incident In Scotland-Brazil Friendly
Also unclear is the identity of the fruit tosser. Was he a Brazil fan? A Scotland fan? A neutral? It seems unlikely that Brazilians would be racist to one of their own players, so let’s rule them out, and the Tartan Army section was on the other side of the pitch, although it’s still entirely possible that one of the many Scotland fans scattered throughout the stadium could have been the banana-delivery-vector. Anyway, whoever it was isn’t going to get in any trouble over the incident (although they should be ashamed of themselves). When asked if he was going to file a complaint, Neymar responded (quote via Daily Mail):
No. That’s in the past. I go back to Brazil now and have already forgotten about it.
If it was (a) Scottish (fan) or if it wasn’t, we cannot prove it. It was one isolated case. Life goes on.
I hope whoever did it, will think about it, and not do it again. It shouldn’t happen anywhere. It doesn’t take away my happiness of the performance.
If nothing else, this has been a reminder that the actions of one person can have a grave impact on the reputations of many, however unfair it may be. A rogue fan has succeeded in having people associate Scotland as a whole with racism, and that’s deeply disturbing.
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