Palmeiras fans refuse to have the club's image linked to Bolsonaro
Brasilia, January 26 (RHC)-- Groups of supporters of the Brazilian soccer club Palmeiras sent a letter to the head of the company, Maurício Precivalle Galiotte, to disassociate the team from any populist and opportunistic action of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Signed by the fans Porcomunas, Palmeiras Antifascista, PorcoÍris, Palmeiras Livre, Usparmera and Palestra Sinistro, the letter fears that the club's image will be tarnished 'at a great moment' by being associated with Bolsonaro. Despite posing with the jerseys of several outfits, the ex-military man calls himself a Palmero.
"We express our concern about the possibility that our club will once again have its image associated, at a great moment in our history, with a government internationally denounced for its systematic attacks on human rights,' reads an excerpt from the letter. Also, it adds, an administration linked to 'the deliberate devastation of the environment and its genocidal behavior in the face of one of the most difficult periods in Brazil's history.'
The fans also argue that Bolsonaro's government turned the country into an international pariah due to the clumsy conduct of international relations by Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, creating 'animosity and hostility even towards neighboring countries, something that is of no interest to Palmeiras.' They reminded the board of directors of the sports corporation of the facet of 'defector fan' and 'mixed fan', who wears the jersey of dozens of clubs, including that of the rivals that will play the final of the Copa Libertadores against Palmeiras.
The fans urge 'not to lend themselves to the pedestal role of someone who, besides showing no real affection for our club by wearing so many jerseys, commits an atrocity by mocking the pain of Brazilians who mourn their dead (more than 217 thousand) due to the Covid-19 pandemic'.
Palmeiras will play for the Libertadores title against Santos, also Brazilian, in a match scheduled for January 30th at the legendary Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
