Four River Plate women’s players were arrested by Sao Paulo police and accused of making a racial slur, Sao Paulo’s public security secretariat told The Associated Press on Saturday.
On Friday, a Brazil Ladies Cup semifinal between Argentina’s River Plate and Brazilian team Grêmio was stopped in the first half after River Plate’s Candela Díaz was accused of making monkey gestures to a ball boy, according to broadcast footage and local media reports.
Díaz was detained along with teammates Juana Cangaro, Milagros Naiquen Diaz, and Camila Ayelen Duarte, the players’ lawyer, Thais Sankari, told The AP. They remained in custody on Saturday.
Sankari said the River Plate players reacted only after being provoked.
“We see in this decision a great arbitrariness and the Brazilian judiciary’s desire to send a message. They used this case for that purpose,” she said.
After Díaz’s gestures on Friday, the Grêmio players walked off in protest. The referee showed red cards to six River Plate players following an on-field fight and ended the match because there was no longer the minimum number of players required to continue.
The score was 1-1 but the referee awarded the match to Grêmio, which will play in the tournament final on Sunday.
The Brazil Ladies Cup banned River Plate from the tournament for two years on Saturday.
Tournament organisers said in a statement on Saturday that future editions will immediately ban any participating team whose athletes or staff “engage in racist gestures on the playing field.”
“The organisation reaffirms its anti-racist stance and emphasizes that it will never tolerate such incidents,” organisers said.
Grêmio said on X it was supporting its players, who would file a police report.
“We regret what happened and condemn any discriminatory acts,” the team said in the statement.
Grêmio coach Thaissan Passos said her players told her River Plate players had previously called them “monkeys.”
“Incidents like this cannot keep happening. How long will we keep pretending racism doesn’t exist?” she told local broadcaster SporTV.
Díaz has not commented publicly.
River Plate also condemned the discriminatory gestures. The club said in a statement on X it was “taking the appropriate disciplinary measures and will continue working to eradicate such behavior.”