Cavani ban by the English FA

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Man United's Cavani receives three-match ban for Instagram post

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Cavani, 33, reposted a message to a friend after scoring twice in the 3-2 win at Southampton on Nov. 29. He wrote in Spanish, "gracias, negrito" -- a term that can be interpreted as racist in the United Kingdom.

As a non-English person, but someone who speaks the English language.  How are the English coming across the term "negrito" -- do louts at the pub yell the term "negrito" at all non-white people?  Of course not, English people have never heard the term "negrito".  They run it through Google translate, and try to assess the cultural implications of the literal English translation.

 

Uruguayan academics slam FA over ban of Manchester United's Cavani

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On Thursday, the FA said the comment was "improper and brought the game into disrepute," fined Cavani 100,000 pounds and ordered him to complete "face-to-face education" as part of his punishment.

The academy, an association dedicated to protecting and promoting the Spanish language used in Uruguay, said it "energetically rejected the sanction."

"The English Football Association has committed a serious injustice with the Uruguayan sportsman ... and has shown its ignorance and error in ruling on the use of language, and in particular Spanish, without noting all its complexities and contexts," the academy said in a statement.

"In the context that it was written, the only value that can be given to negrito -- and particularly because of the diminutive use -- is affectionately."

Words referring to skin colour, weight and other physical characteristics are often used among friends and relations in Latin America, especially in the diminutive, the academy said.

In that context they are expressions of tenderness and are often used independently of the subject's appearance.

There are significant cultural differences between Latin America and Europe.  Using an English sensibility to judge people around the world for their choice of words in non-English is disgusting.  While I have never lived in Uruguay, I did live in Brazil for a significant amount of time.  And even I understand that using the "ito" (or in Portuguese "inho/inha") is typically meant in a way to show affection -- even though it technically means small in a direct translation to English, that is not what it REALLY means, at least in the context of this Instagram message.