Suriname alleges racial abuse by Guatemala fans

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (CMC) — The Surinamese Football Association (SVB) has filed an official complaint with Concacaf after its national team was allegedly subjected to racist abuse from spectators during their Nations League away match against Guatemala on Monday. Playing at the Estadio Manuel Felipe Carrera, Suriname lost 1-0 to the home side to be eliminated from the Nations League after finishing third in Group B. Suriname’s general manager, Brian Tevreden, described the behaviour of the spectators as ‘absolutely unacceptable’, while revealing that the complaint was filed immediately after the match. Tevreden recalled that during the match, he went from the bench to the match commissioner a few times to draw his attention to the alleged racist behaviour in the stadium. He said he was shocked the officials did not take action. “Because of the loss, it might look less good, but if we hadn’t lost on Monday and had reached the quarter-finals, we would have lodged a protest as well. “We did the same last year after beating El Salvador 2-1, where racism also echoed from the stands,” Tevreden said. “[Concacaf and FIFA] cannot continue to turn a blind eye to these kinds of practices. Home fans booing the opponent might be part of the sport, but it goes much too far to do so with monkey noises. “…Those protocols exist for a reason. The international federations need to stop sweeping this idiotic behaviour in the stands under the rug. The Salvadoran federation got away with a fine of less than US$60,000 last year. But surely that doesn’t solve the problem,” he said.