One stone stirred up waves. I didn’t expect that the Argentine men’s volleyball team would cause such a big controversy after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in Beilun, Ningbo. Since last night, some fans have pointed out that when the Argentine men's volleyball team celebrated their victory after the game, some players made moves that "insulted Asians". Conte, one of the parties involved, also immediately defended that he was just imitating Japan's Daruma dolls and was not discriminating. Judging from a photo of the Argentinian team celebrating that was taken by Xinhua News Agency reporter Suo Xianglu released today, at least three members of the team performed similar actions at the same time. So why is this eyelid-pushing action considered discriminatory against Asians? In the field of sports, FIFA has also clearly prohibited this action in its disciplinary code.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Suo Xianglu photographed
The incident happened after the Chinese men's volleyball team lost 42:3 to the Argentine team on August 11. The latter qualified for the Tokyo Olympics men's volleyball team and celebrated in the venue. During the celebration photo session, Argentina player Conte was photographed pulling his eyelids with his fingers, sparking controversy. Afterwards, Conte also defended himself immediately, believing that he was just imitating Japanese Daruma dolls and was not discriminating. However, in a photo taken by Xinhua News Agency reporter Suo Xianglu released this afternoon, three members of the Argentine men's volleyball team, including Conte, performed similar actions.
The reason why fans are so sensitive to this action this time is mainly because in the recent Tokyo Olympics women's volleyball qualifying tournament in Russia, after the Russian team reversed South Korea 43:2 to win the Olympic ticket, the team's Italian assistant coach Sergio Buzzato also made a similar move during the celebration, causing controversy. Afterwards, the Korean Volleyball Association protested to the FIVB and the Russian Volleyball Association, demanding punishment for the coach. Sergio Buzzato also denied his behavior. He believed that his celebration was misunderstood. He did not want to offend anyone. He did not understand why his cleanup was considered to be Asian.
The action of pulling the corners of the eyes involved in the controversy is called Slanty Eye in English, also known as: Pulling your eyes back, which means mocking Asians for their small eyes. In many European and American English-speaking countries, this action is defined as racial discrimination. In the field of sports, many similar actions have actually occurred in the past, and FIFA has explicitly prohibited such behavior in its disciplinary code.
However, this action is not always considered to be discriminatory against Asians around the world. For example, in countries with the Latin system, the action of pulling the corners of the eyes means: "Look, I am Asian too", and can also be extended to "I am happy and happy when I come here." Latin-speaking countries include Spain, Portugal, Italy, Brazil and Argentina. Therefore, in the world of sports, many athletes from Latin-speaking countries have made similar moves in the past, such as the Spanish men's and women's basketball teams taking photos at the Beijing Olympics, and football stars such as Ronaldo and Kaká. During the Rio Olympics in 2016, Jacqueline, a member of the Brazilian women's volleyball team, also raised her eyelids when taking a photo with Zeng Chunlei, the Chinese women's volleyball team. What she expressed was to welcome the Chinese women's volleyball team.
Under different cultural backgrounds, there are different understandings of language and actions. I also hope that fans will not be anxious and angry. Maybe the Argentine men's volleyball team did not have any malicious intentions. Of course, if you really make certain actions maliciously to show discrimination, I hope the FIVB can punish you.
