Bahía reinstated ‘Indio’ Ramírez due to lack of evidence on racism

The Brazilian club Bahia announced on Thursday the upcoming reinstatement of Colombian midfielder Juan Pablo Ramírez, due to lack of evidence on the alleged racist statements that led to his removal.

Ramírez, 23, was accused by the Flamengo Gerson midfielder of yelling at him “shut your mouth, black man” during last Sunday’s game, in which the Rio de Janeiro team beat Bahia 4-3 at Maracana, on matchday 26 of the Brasileirao.

The Colombian player denied the accusations, but Bahia, a mostly black team from northeast Brazil, announced the next day that the player was removed from the team until the investigation was concluded.

In a statement issued this Thursday, Bahia assures that the requested reports “do not prove racial insult.”

The club decided that “even giving relevance to the victim’s narration, it should not keep the athlete ‘Indio’ Ramírez apart, given the lack of evidence and the possible differences in communication between interlocutors of different languages.”

“The athlete will return to training as soon as the professionals of the technical commission and psychologists consider it appropriate,” adds the statement, entitled “letter to society – Act structurally and deepen the racial debate.”

Gerson’s accusations gave rise to a wave of declarations of repudiation against racism and the opening of files before judicial instances and before the Superior Court of Sports Justice.

Bahia announced in the same statement a series of initiatives to combat discrimination in the beautiful game.

These include “the inclusion of a clause against racism, xenophobia and homophobia in the contracts.”