Banana thrown at Brazilian players in Tunisia friendly in Paris
A banana was thrown from the crowd at Brazilian players celebrating a goal in a friendly against Tunisia in Paris.
The incident happened when Brazil forward scored a goal against Tunisia to take the team’s tally to 5-1 at Parc des Princes. This was his second goal out of the five goals scored that day.
While the team was celebrating near one of the flags, banana peels were thrown at the players. What appeared to be a water bottle and another object also were thrown toward them.
Brazil was using the match to make a statement against racism, with the players posing before kickoff in front of a sign that said: “Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirt” — a reference to the five stars above the team crest that represents its five World Cup titles.
The Brazilian football federation slammed the incident and reinforced its stance to fight against racism.
The federation’s president said that he was shocked at what had happened.
“The punishment for these actions needs to be more severe,” Ednaldo Rodrigues said.
Brazilian media said stadium security personnel unsuccessfully tried to identify the person who threw the banana onto the field.