In the aftermath of the racist incidents targeting the FC Porto player Moussa Marega during the match against Vitoria Guimarães, the Malian international sparked a great surge of solidarity in the Portuguese press and on social networks.
Like the sports daily A Bola and its title "We are Marega", the entire press on the peninsula is unanimous in supporting the Porto player. A “shame”, a “crime”, for Correio da manha and O Jogo, the report is therefore without appeal: what happened at the Stade Dom Afonso Henriques has absolutely no place on a football field.
A Bola also claims that these events have been condemned by the government, the Federation and the Football League, and that "all the clubs, players and coaches are united", including Vitoria Guimarães, who has firmly disassociated himself from the actions of some of its supporters through a press release. Marega had however passed the Guimarães club during the 2016-2017 season.
Big names in united football
FC Porto immediately showed solidarity with its attacker, through a statement relayed on social networks. As for the players, they unanimously condemned them, like goalkeeper Iker Casillas, Vincent Aboubakar, Alex Telles and even coach Sergio Conceição.
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"Somos uma família" Dragões Juntos #FCPorto # DragõesJuntos
A post shared by FC Porto (@fcporto) on Feb 16, 2020 at 1:21 pm PST
Rennes' Hamari Traoré, as well as the vast majority of Marega's teammates in the Malian selection, have also publicly displayed their support on social networks.
Absolute support for my brother Moussa Marega. Again, a football player is the victim of racist screams in a stadium.
When will it stop? A shame !
Force you Moussa 🇲🇱 pic.twitter.com/I07fTsT6zw
Other big names in football like Emmanuel Adebayor, Alexandre Lacazette and André Villas-Boas have joined the solidarity movement with the native of Les Ulis (Essonne). Anthony Martial, from the same neighborhood, logically took part in this movement by a support tweet, on behalf of their neighborhood.
Force au frero @ marega91 we're together 👊🏾 #NoToRacism #LesUlis
- Anthony Martial (@AnthonyMartial) February 16, 2020The Mancunian player concluded his message with the hashtag #NoToRacism, which is more relevant than ever in the world of football, which tries, in vain, to remove discrimination as far as possible from its lawns.