Brazilian player sentenced to prison for racism

Brazilian central defender Danilo Larangeira has been sentenced to a year in prison by a court in Brazil. He has been found guilty of racist abuse.

The Criminal Court of the State of Sao Paolo sentenced him to a year’s custodial sentence.

The 28-year-old centre-back was on trial after being caught by a television camera spitting in the face of Atletico Paranaense player Manoel. It was clear from the video tapes that Danilo called him “macaco”, which means monkey in Portuguese. He was playing for Palmeiras in the Copa do Brasil in 2010.

The punishment may be reduced, after an appeal, to a fine of around €127,000, or 500 times the state minimum wage. Considering his wage, there is a possibility of that happening. The player currently earns €400,000 per year.

Danilo joined Udinese this season in a summer transfer from Palmeiras. He has made 25 appearances for Udinese this season, both domestically and in Europe.