Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger allegedly racially abused by Pachuca’s Gustavo Cabral at Club World Cup

Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger was allegedly racially abused by Pachuca captain Gustavo Cabral during Sunday’s Club World Cup group stage fixture.

Rudiger, 32, alerted referee Ramon Abatti following the alleged comment in stoppage time of Madrid’s 3-1 victory in Charlotte and the match official subsequently performed FIFA’s protocol gesture to signal alleged racist abuse.

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Cabral, 39, denied making a racist comment. Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso said that an investigation into the incident was under way.

“Toni has told us something, the FIFA protocol is activated and an investigation is under way,” Alonso said during his post-match press conference. “We believe him. It is unacceptable.”

In denying he had used racist language, Cabral said to reporters: “It was a fight, we collided, he said that I hit him with my hand and then there was an argument and the referee made the sign of racism. In Argentina we say “cagon de mierda” (a profanity used to call someone a coward), all the time I told him the same thing.”

After being told of Cabral’s explanation, Rudiger’s camp reiterated his position to The Athletic. The Athletic has contacted FIFA for comment.

The incident occurred on the stroke of full time at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte as Rudiger and Cabral had tussled in the Pachuca penalty area, and the Madrid defender went to ground holding his face.

The two players then had a verbal exchange before referee Abatti approached the pair.

Abatti sent both players away, but Rudiger returned to speak to him, and Abatti subsequently performed an ‘X’ gesture with his arms.

The global standard gesture for players, coaches or officials to flag a racist incident during a game by crossing their arms into an ‘X’ symbol was introduced by FIFA after a vote at the 74th FIFA Congress in May 2024. The signal is part of the protocol at FIFA tournaments, with world football’s governing body stating it is “designed to empower players, team officials and referees to take a stand against racism”.

Pachuca head coach Jaime Lozano told a press conference: “I only found out now that you are telling me, we haven’t talked about it in the dressing room. I haven’t spoken to Cabral about it, I couldn’t give you any explanation or justification in that sense.

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“Nothing justifies that, but I will talk to him but knowing him from before this has never happened with him, nor with any of these Pachuca players in our league. I tell you I can put my hands in the fire for my captain.”

The Athletic reported on June 16 FIFA had decided not to show any videos, signage or marketing assets in venues hosting the Club World Cup in the United States which explicitly mention challenging racism or discrimination.

This represented a significant change from previous FIFA competitions, such as the Women’s World Cup in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand and the men’s World Cup in 2022 in Qatar.

The federation faced criticism from human rights groups, who called for a reverse of the decision.

FIFA then displayed anti-racism and discrimination messaging at the tournament for one day on Wednesday to mark International Day for Countering Hate Speech. This included a video explaining FIFA’s anti-racism protocols and the “universal anti-racism gesture” being played on the screen before the fixture between Manchester City and Wyad AC at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

FIFA declined to comment when asked if the current political climate in the U.S. played any part in its decision amid hostility towards companies who support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Madrid were 3-1 winners over Pachuca on Sunday despite playing the majority of the game with 10 players following Raul Asencio’s 7th-minute sending off.

(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

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