Here is a link to the first article which was printed in the Toronto Star on Saturday June 26, 2010 by Cathal Kelly.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/article/829198--kelly-uruguay-strikes-another-blow-for-south-america#article
In this article Mr. Kelly writes "you've got a powerhouse economy, the bright lights of Seoul and kooky neighbours who make you look golden by comparison. Uruguay's got plane-crash-related cannibalism. In fairness, they needed an international image refresher more than you."
He adds "when we think of Uruguay, we think of late strikes, grim defence and post-goal celegrations that involve trampling photographers."
I have no problem with the second comment he made. He's a sports reporter, that's his opinion and yes, he's entitled to that. However, Mr. Kelly's remarks about Uruguay as a national are not only downright wrong but they have no basis in a sports article. His writing is hurtful, crude and racist. Had he been writing about the German team, would he be able to make comments, for example calling them Nazi's? I highly doubt that he would make any such comments.
Furthermore, I have read all his articles and yes he does ride the edge between right and wrong on many occassions. For example, calling Holland's Arjen Robben a villain and an noxious little twerp and stating that his dream football experience would be to kick Arjen Robben really, really hard. (article in Toronto Star - July 12, 2010.) That's fine, you want to take a crack at a player, fine, but making negative comments against a nation you clearly know nothing about is something totally different.
In his articles, the only nation that he makes crude remarks about is Uruguay. What is it? Did he lose a bet? Did he have a pre-fabricated article about how bad Uruguay played and he now had to re-write it? I really don't understand what has motivated this man to make such comments about Uruguay.
Here is a copy of my letter to the editor of the Toronto Sta:
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Kathy English,
I am writing to you today with regards to the article written by the Toronto Star sports writer Cathal Kelly.
On his World cup article "Uruguay strikes another blow for South America" dated Saturday June 26, 2010 he makes
a comparison between South Korea and Uruguay. On it he tells South Koreans not to feel bad for their loss to Uruguay
because they have a powerhouse economy and the bright lights of Seoul compared to Uruguay who has "plane-crash-related
cannibalism". As a Canadian born in Uruguay I could not believe that your newspaper allowed such a discriminatory and disgusting statement
to be printed and distributed across Canada. The event that Mr. Kelly is referring to was Uruguay's biggest tragedy in recent history.
A plane crash in 1972 known as the Andes flight disaster, where 16 Uruguayan athletes survived with little food and no source of heat
in extreme cold conditions for 72 days. Faced with starvation and radio news reports that the search for them had been abandoned, the survivors
had to make life or death decisions.
Now, to claim that Uruguayans are cannibals is insulting, offensive and downright sickening. It would be unacceptable to refer to Iranians as terrorists,
Germans as Nazi's or Sikhs as airplane bombers. So why is this any different? I feel that Mr.Kelly's sole intent was to ridicule and
offend our silent but strong community. If his intention was not to insult he could have taken the time to do some research and discovered that
Uruguay is a modern country rich in history, culture and warm, highly educated people.
As an active member of Toronto's Uruguayan community I can inform you that the mentioned article has caused a justified
uproar with our normally passive and law abiding people. Uruguayans strongly believe in the freedom of speech. Not too long ago thousands
of Uruguayans fought and died for liberty and democracy, the same rights we cherish here in this great country. However, freedom of
speech does not give anybody the right to discriminate and/or mislead. I request that a formal written apology be printed in the Toronto Star
immediately and that Mr.Kelly be reprimanded for his actions.
I look forward to your reply and welcome the opportunity to speak with you in person. Please feel free to contact me anytime,
Yours truly,
Sergio Barboza
On the following article he ranks Uruguay as #4 with the following comment:
ReplyDelete"Uruguay: If we promise never to mention cannibalism again, can we be friends?"
http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/article/833368--kelly-my-personal-world-cup-rankings