A player on the Canadian National Men’s National Team has been receiving hateful comments from Lionel Messi fans.
Releasing a statement after the conclusion of their opening Copa America match against Argentina on Thursday, Team Canada addressed racist comments made online towards defender Moïse Bombito. The national team has also contacted tournament organizers about the incident.
“Canada Soccer is aware of and deeply disturbed by racist comments made online and directed at one of our men’s national team players following tonight’s match,” the statement read. “We are in communication with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL about this matter.”
Canada Soccer Statement. pic.twitter.com/jfej5I6WEa
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) June 21, 2024
One of the match’s more heated moments involved Bombito, who executed a forceful tackle on Messi in the second half. This left the Argentina captain writhing in pain on the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, though he managed to keep playing until the final whistle.
BOMBITO WITH A RED CARD FOUL ON MESSI, AMAZINGLY MESSI IS UP ALREADY 🐐
Argentina 1-0 Canadapic.twitter.com/CBDs1ABpDj
— Messi Updates (@M10Update) June 21, 2024
After the match concluded in a 2-0 victory for Argentina, dozens of hateful comments began appearing on the 24-year-old’s personal Instagram page.
Instagram users attacked Bombito for nearly injuring Messi. Many comments were in Spanish and featured racial slurs. Some users posted photos of monkeys.
View this post on Instagram
As of now, a large portion of the comments on the Colorado Rapids defender’s page have been deleted.
CONCACAF responded with a statement of their own on Friday afternoon, condemning the social media posts aimed at the Montreal native. The governing body revealed that CONMEBOL and FIFA intend to investigate accounts behind the posts.
Concacaf statement in support of Moïse Bombito and Canada Soccer pic.twitter.com/DWVSYgvZWW
— Concacaf Media (@ConcacafMedia) June 21, 2024
Canada, who secured their spot at the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa América as one of six CONCACAF guest nations back in April, returns to action on Tuesday night against Peru in another Group A matchup. The two sides will face off at 3 pm PT/6 pm ET.
Hoping to earn a spot in the knockout stage, the Canadians will complete their group stage schedule on Saturday, June 29 with a match against Chile at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET.
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