The latest episodes of racial discrimination in football call attention to the debate on changes in legislation to combat this type of crime. The new General Sports Law, which unifies Brazilian sports legislation, was published last Thursday (15th), in the Official Gazette of the Union, after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s sanction, with vetoes. Among the excerpts removed is the creation of the National Authority to Prevent and Combat Violence and Discrimination in Sport (Anesporte). The proposed institution would be responsible for developing policies to combat violence, invasions and various forms of discrimination in sports arenas. Among the punishments that could be immediately applied by Anesporte itself was the immediate impediment of those suspected of involvement in these crimes from attending sporting events for a period of up to five years. According to statements by the Minister of Sports, Ana Moser, the veto was due to legal reasons, since the law began with a project on the initiative of the Steering Committee of the Federal Senate and the creation of an Executive Branch body must come from a proposal by the federal government. . Senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF), who is a former athlete and actively participated in the debates on the new legislation, considered that the vetoes are part of the legislative process, since the procedural rules do not allow the federal government to amend the approved text . “As a result, there was a need to keep the Pelé Law in force, to avoid gaps in sports legislation”, explained Leila. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) also expressed, through a note, that it considers the greater rigor and increase in penalties brought in the new law, in relation to acts of discrimination in sporting spaces, to be a step forward. “This issue is extremely important and the CBF had already anticipated and revised the General Competition Regulations to impose more severe penalties.” Even without Anesporte, the new legislation brings important points for action by sports authorities in relation to crimes of discrimination. In Article 201, which establishes a prison sentence of one to two years, and a fine for fans involved in crowd fights. The seventh paragraph of the article doubles the penalty for cases where fights involve racism, or offenses committed against women. National System The LGE also foresees the creation of the National Sports System (Sinesp), which unifies sports institutions, through a National Sports Plan. The forecast is that the plan will be elaborated with diversity and social participation of municipalities, states and the Federal District is another organizational aspect, which foresees mechanisms to “eradicate or reduce anti-sporting manifestations”. Among the attributions foreseen for the entities participating in the new Sinesp, described in Article 11, are the adoption of measures to combat violence, corruption, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism and any other form of discrimination, use of illegal substances and typified methods like doping. Until the regulation of the law, in the form of an executing institution, the entities of Sinesp must face the same current limitations to inspect and execute the penalties that already existed in laws prior to the new legislation, as is the case of Article 158, which deals with the spectator access and permanence in the sports venue. Carrying posters, flags, symbols, offensive messages, or singing prejudiced songs would be enough reasons for fans to be barred from entering arenas, or even removed from the venues. As there is no entity responsible for acting in sports spaces, crimes of this nature have to wait for the judicial procedures and, often, those who commit them remain attending sports arenas. According to Lelia Barros, President Lula signed an order for the Ministry of Sport to find, within 90 days, the legislative solution to fill the gaps created by the vetoes. “I will be working together with the Ministry of Sport on responses to ensure fair, egalitarian and efficient sports legislation,” says the senator.
Agência Brasil
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