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Investigation underway into alleged racial abuse in Dunedin club football
An investigation has been launched by Southern Football after a Wanaka footballer was allegedly racially abused in a match against Roslyn Wakari in Dunedin.
Daniel Lourenço was playing for Wanaka when a spectator allegedly directed a racial slur at the 21-year-old Brazilian, midway through the first-half of the match at Ellis Park.
Too focused on his football, Lourenço said he did not hear a slur, but his teammates did and confronted the crowd.
However, this only resulted in a yellow card to one of them.
“When the game finished, all my team went to talk to the referee but I don’t even think he knew about it and no one would say who exactly had made the racist comments,” Lourenço said.
“I’m the only Brazilian on my team, when I arrived, they always supported me even though I couldn’t speak English very well. I feel glad that they stood up for me when it all happened.”
Video of the incident has been sent to New Zealand Football for review.
Southern Football chief executive Dougal McGowan said they had gathered reports from those who were at the Dunedin game.
“We are working through that process now and trying to make sure because there’s a lot of information to work through, there’s videos and all that sort of stuff. So we’ve got a wee bit of work to do.”
Daniel Lourenço’s teammates confronted the crowd but this only resulted in a yellow card to one of them. Photo: supplied
McGowan said it was disappointing to hear of the incident.
“We’ve been talking about sideline and onfield behavior for a long period of time. We are quite concerned about a number of different things that are happening. It’s not just our sport, we’re talking with other groups and they’re finding the same things and we’re seeing it in general society as well,” he said.
Southern Football wanted to ensure people were able to participate freely without having “this sort of stuff going on”, he said.
The incident comes just two weeks after the All Whites abandoned their match against Qatar after one of the opposing team members allegedly said a racial slur towards defender Michael Boxall.
The Qatar Football Association denied the player used a racial slur, saying the two had an exchange of words “in the heat of the moment”.
“In any case, the QFA takes the allegations incredibly seriously and stands against racism in all its forms,” QFA said in a statement at the time.
Originally from São Paulo, Lourenço came to New Zealand with his family nine months ago.
“I never thought that would ever happen to me on the field. I would never ever think that I would have to go through that.
“I really don’t want to have to go through that again. It’s an awful thing but I believe it will pass. I’ve been trying to focus on my football and on what I like about football. I know I’m unfortunately not the only one that goes through it, racism should never be okay.”
The two sides are set to meet again in the Chatham Cup this weekend.
Daniel’s mother, Nivia Lourenço, said her son was doing what he loved most and she was deeply upset by what had happened.
“I’ve never experienced anything even close to what happened to my son.
“I was under the impression that here in New Zealand we had respect between people and their communities, and how different people are. But now, after what happened to my son, I don’t know anymore. How can people be mean, be cruel, to people, just because they have a different skin colour than theirs?
Daniel’s mother Nivia Lourenço was heartbroken after her son was racially abused. Photo: supplied
“If you are a mother, it doesn’t matter how old your children are, when someone hurts them, I think there’s nothing worse to a mother.
“We should not tolerate racism anywhere and anytime. Skin colour doesn’t mean anything; people should always respect one another.”
Meanwhile, Wellington Phoenix have stood a player from their resereve team down indefinitely after he admitted using homophobic language on the field in a match against Petone in the Central League competition.
Fin Conchie has apologised for the comments and will face disciplinary action from Capital Football.
SOURCE -RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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