Players and coaches lined up to condemn Chile defender Gonzalo Jara on Thursday after he apparently attempted to shove his finger in an opponent’s backside during a stormy Copa America quarter-final win over Uruguay.
Jara was the subject of widespread revulsion on social media after photographs and camera footage clearly showed him jabbing a finger into the back of Edinson Cavani’s shorts during Wednesday’s game, won 1-0 by Chile.
The lurid provocation ultimately led to Cavani being sent off after the Paris Saint-Germain striker flicked a retaliatory hand into Jara’s face.
Photo: AFP
Jara’s fate remained uncertain on Thursday, with South American soccer’s governing body CONMEBOL saying it would only lodge a disciplinary case against the Chile player if it received a formal complaint, but players and coaches were unanimous in their disgust of the incident, with many expressing sympathy for Cavani, whose father was arrested earlier this week for his part in a fatal traffic accident.
“Particularly when you consider it was Cavani and all the other problems he’s had this week, it was shameful,” Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said. “There is absolutely no justification for it whatsoever, and on top of all that Cavani barely touched him.”
Colombia coach Jose Pekerman also decried Jara’s actions, saying the move had tarnished the image of the sport in front of a global audience.
“We all want to win and there is pressure on everyone to win, but the contest has to be noble,” the veteran Argentine-born coach said. “Football is a sport that the whole world watches. There are certain rules that must be respected.”
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez could not hide his anger at the incident in the aftermath of Wednesday’s game, which saw his team finish with nine men.
“You can see what happened and what the challenge was. I refer you to the television and photos of it, it is all there,” Tabarez said.
“I can see that the referee has not seen it, but the linesman had to be able to see it from his position,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Uruguay captain Diego Lugano had a menacing warning for Jara in a message on Twitter, while berating the performance of Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci.
“I’ll have to speak to that little Jara character when we bump into each other one day,” the former West Bromwich Albion defender said. “Sandro Ricci’s refereeing performance was a total, utter disgrace.”
Unsurprisingly, the Cavani-Jara flashpoint dominated the Uruguayan newspapers, but Chile’s papers largely underplayed or ignored it, focusing instead on Chile’s victory and their passage to the semi-finals as they chase a first ever Copa America crown.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declined to comment on the Jara incident as she visited the Estadio Ester Roa in Concepcion, which is to host today’s quarter-final between Brazil and Paraguay.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS