Jean-Philippe Mateta was the hero for France during the Paris 2024 Olympics quarter final clash with Argentina but the aftermath isn’t what anybody would have expected.
The Crystal Palace forward scored in the fifth minute to book the host nation a spot in the last four, and put them on the verge of winning the competition for the first time in 40 years.
After the end of the match, players from both teams had a physical confrontation with each other, sparked by Enzo Milliot’s behavior towards the Argentine players.
According to reports, Milliot had celebrated his side’s victory in a way to annoy Javier Mascherano’s side which obviously didn’t go down well.
The brawl between both teams was just a prelude to what would ensue afterwards, as Argentine fans stormed Matesta’s social media account to harass him with racial insults.
The perpetrators are yet to be identified but it is saddening that not long ago Enzo Fernández and his teammate directed racial abuse towards French players.
The Chelsea star filmed himself and his colleagues singing an offensive song about the French national team following their Copa America’s triumph in the state.
This didn’t go down well with his French teammates at Chelsea who openly expressed their dissatisfaction with him by unfollowing him on social media, with the incident reportedly now settled.
The irritable gesture from the Argentine fans is the reason why Fernández and his teammates should not go unpunished, as racism has no room in the beautiful game.
This isn’t the first time that players are being racially abused on social media and that is why it has also become operative for social media owners to be able to detect racist words and block any user that uses such.
It was only in March this year that Brazilian star Vinicius Jr broke down on live TV after receiving racist abuse in La Liga.
No word has yet been given as to how those Argentina fans who racially abused Jean-Phillipe Mateta will be punished, but most football fans will agree something has to be done to stamp out racism in the sport.
