Credit: Cristiane Rozeira
In the video, she stated that she was shocked by the unfortunately negative proportion that the gesture of friendship took: “We have been friends for over twenty years. But I didn’t imagine it would have such a big impact in terms of bringing this anger to the fans.”
The Santos athlete apologized for the gesture and claimed that it is something common: “I’ve done this playing abroad, I’ve done this in other clubs, including within the Brazilian team itself, exchanging shirts with rivals who are friends of mine from other countries” .
Cristiane highlighted that the gigantic rivalry between clubs has never had a place in women’s football and that unity between players is an important factor in their careers: “Grazi will soon stop, I will soon stop. It was an emotional moment for us, it had nothing to do with offending the Santos fans, with offending the club.”
The situation highlights the difficulties that women’s football faces in the country. More than the rivalry between clubs, the level of prejudiced and sexist comments that have nothing to do with the issue draws attention.
To mitigate the attacks, Cristiane made herself available to the club so that, if they consider it necessary, they could take disciplinary measures: “If the president, if the club understands that they need to take any appropriate action in relation to me, they can take it, I’m here to that. I’m here to show my face when I make a mistake and to apologize to the fans who felt offended.
