ESPN journalist tells viewers he is gay, as he calls out soccer coach’s homophobia
After the coach of one of Brazil’s top soccer clubs used a gay slur, broadcaster Ricardo Spinelli responded on air with great courage. The post ESPN journalist tells viewers he is gay, as he calls out soccer coach’s homophobia appeared first on Outsports.
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A journalist with ESPN Brazil has spoken on air about being a gay man while challenging the homophobic remarks of a veteran soccer coach.
Ricardo Spinelli, who has been a co-host on the network’s “Puxeta” discussion show since September, shared the clip on Instagram showing his rebuttal to Abel Braga, whose slurs in a press conference caused a shock on Sunday.
Braga, 73, was addressing the media just hours after being reappointed as coach of Internacional, who are fighting for survival in the Brazilian Serie A with just two matches of the season remaining.
But he was left to issue a public apology for his language, which is now set to land him with a punishment from the national sports court.
Meanwhile, Spinelli has been praised for his mature response. The journalist captioned his Instagram post: “We can’t keep normalizing these go-around hate comments in football.”
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Gay slur used by coach in relation to players wearing pink shirts
Braga guided Internacional to glory in the Copa Libertadores and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2006 and has been brought back to save the Porto Alegre club from relegation.
When presented to the media, the conversation turned to the pink shirts that the Internacional players currently wear in training. Braga revealed he had asked the club’s sporting director Andres D’Alessandro to change the jerseys.
“I said, ‘I don’t want my freaking team training in pink shirts, it looks like a team of f**gots.'”
The slur Braga used was “viado,” which is the shortened form of “desviado,” translating as “perverted” from Portuguese. The word is interchangeable with “veado” — the word for “deer” — and has long been used to discriminate against gay men in Brazil.
Over the years, much of this targeting has played out in soccer — the national sport — and only last week Palmeiras striker Vitor Roque issued a public anti-homophobia statement after posting an image of a deer being attacked by a tiger on social media.
Braga initially tried to laugh off his use of the slur by claiming his intention was to “relax my group” of players, and reduce tension within the squad.
Clearly, connotations around wearing pink still linger for some in the hypermacho world of men’s soccer. Last year, the Brazilian soccer federation even tried to reassure male footballers who might be gay that they would be accepted after right-back Yan Couto was criticized for dying his hair pink.
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Vitor Roque is prolific for Palmeiras and is likely to play in the FIFA World Cup, but has been punished for posting homophobic content.Express yourself! Soccer chiefs reassure gay players after star reveals pink hair plea
As Brazil prepares for the Copa America, a disagreement over hair dye has led a rare federation statement referencing male footballers who are LGBTQ.
As for Braga, the climbdown continued later on when he posted a comment on his Instagram story that read: “I recognize that I did not make a good comment about the color pink during my press conference.
“Before this spreads, I apologize. Colors do not define genders. What defines them is character.”
Gay journalist Ricardo Spinelli says he lost respect for Abel Braga
The next day, as the furor over the septuagenarian’s slur made international headlines, Spinelli appeared on “Puxeta” wearing a pink T-shirt.
He told his colleagues on the show and the program’s viewers: “I’m not one to expose myself much, I try to be as discreet as possible, but, Abel, there’s a f**got in pink here.”
Spinelli mentioned that ESPN Brazil carries a documentary available on demand titled “Abel, the Great,” which profiles the coach who brought so much success to Internacional 19 years ago. They beat Barcelona, 1-0, in Yokohama to win the FIFA Club World Cup, making the men from Porto Alegre champions of the world.
Addressing Braga, the journalist continued: “I admired you a lot for many years but, from this moment on, you are ‘Abel, the little one.’ You’re not a f**got, lucky for you, because that’s difficult.
“A team of gay men is, most likely, a team with much more courage than you can imagine in your life. That’s why I made a point of coming in pink.”
Friends and colleagues commented on Spinelli’s Instagram post to voice their support for his courage.
Also wearing a pink shirt on air Monday was former Brazil international midfielder Neto, who hosts “Os Donos da Bola,” one of the country’s most popular soccer TV shows.
He said: “When you’re homophobic, like Abel Braga was, the worst part for me is the response. The response is even worse. There’s no color to character, my friend. You either have character or you don’t.”
Braga, with his reputation tarnished, takes Internacional to face Sao Paulo on Wednesday before their season concludes at home to Bragantino at the weekend.
As for Ricardo Spinelli, his words will resonate with fellow gay sports journalists worldwide, reclaiming strength and pride after an old man’s throwaway moment of prejudice.
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The post ESPN journalist tells viewers he is gay, as he calls out soccer coach’s homophobia appeared first on Outsports.
