MONTEVIDEO • The Uruguayan Academy of Letters on Friday denounced a three-game ban given to Manchester United's Edinson Cavani, calling the sanction for alleged racism an example of English football's lack of "cultural and linguistic knowledge".
The Uruguayan used the word "negrito" (small black person) in an Instagram post after the side's Premier League victory over Southampton on Nov 29, before taking it down and apologising. He said it was intended as an expression of affection to a friend.
On Thursday, the Football Association (FA) said the comment was "improper and brought the game into disrepute", fined Cavani £100,000 (S$178,160) and ordered him to complete "face-to-face education" as part of his punishment.
The academy, an association dedicated to protecting and promoting the Spanish language used in Uruguay, said it "energetically rejected the sanction".
"The English Football Association has committed a serious injustice with the Uruguayan sportsman... and has shown its ignorance and error in ruling on the use of language, and in particular Spanish, without noting all its complexities and contexts," it said in a statement.
"In the context that it was written, the only value that can be given to negrito, is affectionately.
"In the Spanish of Uruguay, for example, in couples or among friends, between parents and children, one often hears and reads expressions such as... gordito (fatso), negri, negrito.
"In fact, a person so addressed is not necessarily overweight or dark-skinned."
In essence, the academy explained that words referring to skin colour, weight and other physical characteristics are often used among friends and relations in Latin America, especially in the diminutive.
In that context they are expressions of tenderness and are often used independently of the subject's appearance.
United said Cavani, 33, chose not to contest the charge out of respect for the FA and the "fight against racism in football".
"My heart is at peace because I know that I always expressed myself with affection according to my culture and way of life," he wrote on Instagram.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
