The FA will investigate Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani for a now-deleted social media post in which the Uruguayan uses a Spanish term with racial connotations.
After his match-winning contribution for United at Southampton on Sunday, Cavani shared a congratulatory post on his Instagram story, which featured a picture of him celebrating at St Mary’s.
Below the photo Cavani used the Spanish term “n***ito”, which literally translates to “little black man”. United have stressed the word was clearly used in an affectionate manner and has different meanings in his native South America.
The club said the 33-year-old had been made aware such terms are viewed as offensive in the UK and he subsequently deleted the post.
A term of endearment?
Dr Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, explained why “n***ito” is an “offensive” word despite its common usage in Latin America.
“It is a term of endearment in Latin America,” Dr Sabatini tells i. “They also have other terms of endearment that are equally offensive. They’ll refer to a girl who is skinny as ‘the skinny one’ or even, la gordita, ‘little fat one’. That doesn’t make it any less offensive.
“The irony is there are very few African Americans or Afro-descendants in Uruguay, or Argentina, where a large number were killed in the Conquest of the Desert. It’s not even that it has come out of societies that are deeply integrated, it comes out of it in a sense that they are a small minority.
“For example, in Argentina they refer to indigenous people as ‘blackheads’, cabezas negras, and they will argue that is just how they refer to them. Well, no, it’s really disgusting.
“The bottom line is, yes it’s a term of endearment, but that doesn’t make it any less offensive. It’s disparaging. Just because people say it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be aware of its connotations and its legacy in terms of a term of denoting condescension.”
Dr Sabatini added that celebrities with a large online reach must become more aware of certain phrases and their connotations.
“I’m not one to police language, but I do think international stars who have the megaphone need to be much more self-conscious of the implications of the words they use,” Dr Sabatini said. “Simply saying ‘that’s a phrase we use’ doesn’t work.
“There is reason for legitimate concern, and even punishment. There are plenty of other words too. We can go back millennia, we shouldn’t refer to women as ‘wenches’, this is the way languages and tolerance and inclusion evolve, and it does require – especially people with a public persona – being much more conscious of the language they use – regardless of context – and its implications.
He added: “Some Latin Americans will argue that it isn’t offensive. ‘No this is just the way we are’. It speaks to the legacy of the inequality with race and ethnicity.
“If you look at census data, Uruguay is one of the most homogenous of European countries in all of Latin America. When those numbers are smaller you become a lot less conscious of those concerns.”
The FA v Luis Suarez
Cavani’s friend and compatriot Luis Suarez was handed an eight-match ban and fined £40,000 in 2011 after the Football Association found the ex-Liverpool striker guilty of racially abusing then-Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
A 115-page document, The FA v Luis Suarez, outlines the disciplinary case, in which Suarez was found to have used the word “n***o” or “n****s” seven times in his exchanges with Evra. “On each occasion, the words were insulting,” the FA said in its findings.
Suarez initially claimed that his use of the term was “conciliatory and friendly and was commonly used in this way in Uruguay”, adding that in “no way” was it supposed to be “offensive or to be racially offensive”.
Spanish language experts were consulted for the case, and it ultimately came down to the context in which the term was used. In this instance, the FA rejected Suarez’s claims as it deemed his exchange with Evra was “confrontational and argumentative”.
Part of the FA’s summary read: “We received expert evidence as to the use of the word “n***o” in Uruguay and other areas of Latin America. It is often used as a noun to address people, whether family, friends or passers-by, and is widely seen as inoffensive. However, its use can also be offensive. It depends on the context.
“It is inoffensive when its use implies a sense of rapport or the attempt to create such rapport. However, if it were used, for example, with a sneer, then it might carry negative connotations. The Spanish language experts told us that if Mr Suarez said the things that Mr Evra alleged, they would be considered racially offensive in Uruguay and other regions of Latin America.”
The FA also stated Suarez’s punishment would have been smaller had he used the phrase once.
The case findings added: “Mr Suarez’s behaviour was far more serious than a single use of the word “n***o” to address Mr Evra in a way which would be considered inoffensive in Uruguay. If that was all that Mr Suarez had done, and we had found the Charge proved, the penalty would have been less than we have imposed.”
Suarez later admitted in his autobiography: “I’m not trying to pretend it was meant in a friendly way to Evra because clearly we were arguing. But nor was it ever meant as a racist slur.”
Evra revealed earlier this year he received a letter of apology from Liverpool CEO Peter Moore, while in 2019 former Reds defender Jamie Carragher also apologised to Evra after Liverpool players wore t-shirts in support of Suarez immediately after the striker was handed his eight-game ban.
Meanwhile, there are only three references to the term “n***ito” in the FA v Suarez case, which outline how the governing body sought advice from former United forward Javier Hernandez:
“A Mexican footballer, Omar Esparza, is widely known in Mexico as “el N***ito”. Hernandez, the Manchester United player, has been a close friend of Omar Esparza for many years and refers to him as “el N***ito” in an affectionate way. Hernandez admitted that terms such as “N***ito” can be used with close friends and in certain situations without it being offensive.”
What do FA laws and guidelines say?
Ahead of the new season the FA applied a minimum three-match suspension should any player be found guilty of a discriminatory incident on social media.
Social media guidelines sent out by the FA warned players against using “threatening, indecent, abusive or insulting language or images” or “discriminatory language”.
The guidelines add: “Discriminatory abuse includes a reference whether expressed [sic] or implied to any one or more of the following: Ethnic origin, Colour, Race, Nationality, Religion or belief, Gender, Gender reassignment, Sexual orientation, Disability.”
Players are also responsible for everything on their social media accounts, even if posted by a third party, while the guidelines also mention to “remove any inappropriate postings as soon as possible”, a point Cavani has followed upon learning of reaction to the post.
Last season, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva was handed a one-match ban, fined £50,000 and sent on an education course for an “aggravated breach” of FA Rule E3.
Silva deleted a tweet to team-mate Benjamin Mendy in which he included a picture of the defender as a child next to the logo of a Spanish company, Conguitos.
An FA statement read: “The Manchester City midfielder’s social media activity on 22 September 2019 breached FA Rule E3(1), as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, and constituted an “Aggravated Breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin.”
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