Athletico is acquitted in case of racism in the classic against Coritiba

Athletico was acquitted for acts of racism committed by fans in the classic against Coritibafor this year’s Paranaense Championship. The trial of the 1st Disciplinary Commission of the Court of Sports Justice of Paraná (TJD-PR) took place on Monday night (23), in Curitiba.

The case led to the opening of an investigation by the Civil Police of Paraná (PCPR) and included identification work by the club, which claimed that the fans are not red-black members. The Hurricane had been denounced in article 243-G of the Brazilian Code of Sports Justice (CBJD), which highlights the discriminatory practice “on the basis of ethnic origin, race, sex, color, age, status of elderly or disabled person” and provides for fines and loss of field command.

However, the understanding of the case’s rapporteur, auditor André Ricardo Lopes da Silva, is that the acts committed by fans are not the club’s responsibility, arguing for acquittal, and his vote was accompanied by auditor William Pedroso da Rocha.

Auditor Herotides Lins da Silva voted to impose a fine worth R$5,000, while Arthur Fernandes, president of the 1st Disciplinary Committee of the TJD-PR, supported the application of a fine worth R$15,000 and loss of field command in three matches. Therefore, by majority, Athletico was acquitted.

On the other hand, Athletico was condemned for delaying its return to the pitch and throwing objects from fans onto the field, worth R$1,200 each. In other words, Rubro-Negro will have to pay a total of R$2,400.

“Is there any way not to vote?” asks TJD-PR auditor

One of the unusual moments of the trial was a question from Dr Herotides Lins da Silva, auditor of the TJD-PR. With a tone of irony, when taking on the microphone to cast his vote, the auditor questioned his colleagues.

“Is it possible not to vote, doctor?”, he said. After that, before starting to vote, he considered that he was “facing an extremely complicated, extremely subjective situation”. “Not really, right”, replied Arthur Fernandes, in a surprised tone.

After that, he disagreed with the rapporteur’s vote regarding the amount of the fine for throwing objects. The support was endorsed, which ended up defining the penalty of R$1,200.

“When we apply the same penalty, proportionally we end up being a little out of date. If it were a Series C team, we would be here talking about a R$300 team. As it is a top-tier team, I understand that this value should be increased. It won’t affect the club’s coffers as much due to this increase. I would increase it to double. That’s why I’m thinking of R$600 per minute, ending up at R$1,200”, he defined, who was accompanied by his colleagues.