by Our Sports Desk

THREE gymnasts were suspended by the Brazilian gymnastics confederation yesterday after they were seen on video racially abusing a black teammate.

Arthur Nory Mariano, Fellipe Arakawa and Henrique Flores were all given 30-day suspensions for telling Angelo Assumpcao that a smartphone’s screen is white when it works and black when it doesn’t and that supermarket bags are white and trash bags are black.

The three athletes are banned from entering any national or international competition and lost their rights to any financial incentives they might have been receiving.

The confederation said the case will be analysed by a local gymnastics sports tribunal. Assumpcao and the three suspended gymnasts are expected to be questioned by the tribunal.

The video was made public after being obtained by the O Globo newspaper, prompting the confederation to open an investigation last week. The newspaper said the video originated from the Snapchat app account of one of the gymnasts.

After the incident created a stir among athletes and human rights advocates, the gymnasts released another video saying they wanted to publicly apologise to Assumpcao. They said they were joking and that viewers misunderstood them and blew the incident out of proportion.

“There are no hard feelings,” Assumpcao said in the video, sitting alongside his teammates. “We are friends.”

Despite the apology, local authorities immediately asked the confederation and the Brazilian Olympic Committee to take the matter seriously. Government officials said they would follow the case closely to see if there was space for a criminal complaint under Brazil’s anti discrimination laws.