the Brazilian government, at war against an Olympic champion

BarcelonaOpen war in Brazil over an Instagram survey. Volleyball player and Olympic champion Wallace de Souza has put the Brazilian government on a war footing after asking his followers on social media if they would be able to shoot President Lula da Silva in the head. Wallace, a known supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro and defender of his pro-armament discourse, published the survey on his profile in response to a comment from one of his followers on a photo in which he was out with a gun. The athlete deleted the controversial survey hours after it was published, but the Brazilian government and other authorities reacted by announcing legal measures.

The Brazilian government, which has decided to take immediate action, has asked the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) to expel him for life from the courts as an exemplary measure. The request, made by the Attorney General of the Union, the body responsible for the legal affairs of the Presidency, has also requested a fine of 100,000 reais (about $20,000) to the volleyball player who won the gold in the Games Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 with the Brazilian team. The body alleges that the 35-year-old Cruzeiro club athlete has committed the crimes of incitement to hatred and violence and that, therefore, he violated both “the Brazilian code of sports justice and the code of ethical conduct of the COB”.

Screenshot of Wallace de Souza’s survey

The player defends himself against these accusations, although he acknowledges the mistake. “Anyone who knows me knows that I would never incite violence against anyone, least of all our president,” Wallace has said publicly. “I’m here to apologize, it was an unfortunate post I made, I was wrong,” he admitted through a video on Instagram hours after the controversy.

Despite his public justifications, his club has been the first to take drastic decisions. This same Tuesday, the Cruzeiro club has suspended Wallace for an indeterminate time and has demanded a “full retraction and an apology” to all offended, including the country’s government. The Brazilian Volleyball Confederation has also joined the condemnation and, through a statement, has defended that it repudiates “any kind of violence or incitement to violent action”. In the sports sphere, the Brazilian Olympic Committee has requested the ethics council to investigate the case.

Who is de Souza?

The athlete was born on June 26, 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, and is one of the stars of the Brazilian volleyball team. After a silver medal performance at the 2012 London Olympics, he won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he was named the best attacker of the Games. With the national team he has obtained 17 championships, and individually, 12. In 2014 he was chosen as the best of the World League 20 and the World Club Championship, while in 2017 he was chosen as the best opponent of the World League and best opposed in the South American Championship. Now, the Brazilian volleyball star is about to be away from the courts forever.