Four River Plate women’s team players who were arrested for racial slurs during a match have been released, the Sao Paulo state prison administration secretariat said.
Judge Fernando Oliveira Camargo released Argentine footballers Candela Diaz, Camila Duarte, Juana Cangaro and Milagros Diaz from prison on Friday on the condition that they appear in court in Sao Paulo every month until the case ends.
The four footballers were named in a document outside the Carandiru penitentiary in Sao Paulo released late Friday. Argentina players spent Christmas in jail. Neither their lawyer nor their club revealed on Saturday whether they had returned home.
On 21 December, a Brazil Ladies Cup semi-final between River and Brazil’s Gremio was stopped in the first half when DÃaz made an apparent monkey gesture to a ball boy, which was caught on broadcast footage. A brawl broke out and Gremio players walked off in protest.
The referee issued red cards to six Rivers players and ended the semi-final as the minimum number of players was not required to continue.
The score was 1–1 but the referee awarded the match to Gremio, who won the tournament final two days later.
The Brazil Ladies Cup also banned Rivera from the tournament for two years.
Organizers said future editions would immediately ban any participating team whose athletes or staff “engage in racist gestures on the field of play”.
Gremio coach Thysan Passos said his team said his River players used to call them “monkeys”.
The Argentine players have yet to comment publicly on the case.
Nadi also condemned the discriminatory gesture. The club said it was “taking appropriate disciplinary action and will continue to work to eradicate this type of behaviour.”
Argentine clubs have often been sanctioned by South American sports bodies due to racist gestures from their fans, particularly during men’s football matches involving Brazilian clubs.
