Argentina's Julian Alvarez, left, and Canada's Moise Bombito battle for the ball during a Copa America Group A soccer match in Atlanta, Thursday, June 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Jason Allen
ATLANTA – Canada’s impressive performance in a 2-0 loss to top-ranked Argentina at Copa America has come at a cost.
Canada Soccer says one of its players was a victim of online racial abuse following Thursday’s tournament curtain-raiser at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Canada Soccer is aware and deeply disturbed by racist comments made online and directed at one of our men’s national team players following tonight’s match,” the governing body said in a social media post. “We are in communication with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL about this matter.”
CONCACAF is the confederation covering North and Central America and the Caribbean. CONMEBOL is the South American confederation.
Canada Soccer did not identify the player in question but defender Moise Bombito’s Instagram account drew abusive comments after a hard tackle on Argentine captain Lionel Messi.
Bombito, a 24-year-old from Montreal who plays for the Colorado Rapids, reacted to the abuse with an Instagram post saying: “My beautiful Canada. No room for that BS.”
The 48th-ranked Canadians did not look out of place against the top-ranked Argentines. Canada had its share of quality scoring chances but could not convert.
The Canadians now head to Kansas City to play on No. 31 Peru on Tuesday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2024
