On 6 March, during a match between Palmeiras and Cerro Porteño in the Conmebol Libertadores U-20, two players from the Brazilian team, Luighi and Figueiredo, were harassed and called monkeys, as well as being spat at by Cerro fans.

Cerro Porteño were fined US$50,000 by Conmebol and forced to play without fans in the U-20 competition.

Leaders of other Brazilian football teams pointed to the lack of concrete action against racism on the part of Conmebol, which, according to them, had not applied adequate punishment to the offenders. They suggested that Brazilian teams boycott the Libertadores competition. Also protesting the situation, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Ednaldo Rodrigues, did not attend the Libertadores group draw.

In an interview after the draw, the president of Conmebol, Alejandro Dominguez, said that the Libertadores without Brazil is like ‘Tarzan without Cheetah’, a phrase also considered racist. Brazil's ministries of Sport, Racial Equality and Foreign Affairs repudiated the statement.

We invited FIFA and Conmebol to comment on the allegations and FIFA's response is available. Conmebol has not responded.