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Brazil urges UN and FIFA to combat World Cup racism
Brazil's top human rights body on Friday urged the UN and FIFA to act against racism, citing slurs targeting players including French star Kylian Mbappe during the 2026 World Cup.
Rampant racist messaging in the stands, online and even from politicians has occurred throughout the tournament that will wrap up with Sunday's final pitting Spain against Argentina.
A Paraguayan senator made derogatory comments about Mbappe while Spain's ex-leader Mariano Rajoy questioned the nationality of French footballers.
Black footballers on the Dutch national team meanwhile faced a barrage of online hate after missing penalties against Morocco.
Brazil's National Human Rights Council denounced "a transnational pattern of structural racism, racial discrimination and hate speech observed throughout the 2026 World Cup" in a statement sent to AFP.
It called on the United Nations and FIFA to ensure that tournament hosts United States, Mexico and Canada were adequately investigating and following up on racist incidents.
Council president Ivana Leal cited FIFA figures showing that out of over six million monitored social media posts, 89,000 contained abusive content, including thousands of a racist nature.
That figure is more than 13 times the number recorded during the 2022 edition of the tournament, reports BSS.
"The World Cup brings together millions of people and should represent an encounter between peoples and cultures," Leal stated.
The data shows that racism "remains a global challenge," she added.