The footballer Gio Queiroz denounces “abusive behavior” during his time at Barça

Barcelona’s Brazilian soccer player Gio Queiroz, who plays on loan at Levante, denounced this Tuesday “abusive behavior” by the Catalan club during his time at the Barça team, when he was a minor. Gio Queiroz, who signed for Barça in July 2020, when she was 17 years old, assures that she received pressure to resign from her country’s team, with which she participated last summer in the Tokyo Olympics. After the publication of an open letter addressed to the president of Barça, Joan Laporta, the club defended itself and recalled that, after Gio Queiroz went to FIFA with his complaint, the highest body in world football agreed with the Catalan club and the case it was also settled internally as there was no evidence of irregularities.

According to Barcelona, ​​Gio Queiroz was a close contact of a positive for coronavirus during the pandemic and traveled to Brazil without authorization from the club before the end of his period of confinement, for which he was sanctioned for an act of indiscipline and was informed that From then on I would only play for Barça B. «I received indications that playing with Brazil would not be the best for my future at the club. They were cornering me in an abusive way so that I would resign from the Brazilian team. Arbitrary methods were used to harm my life within the club », affirms Gio Queiroz, for whom her confinement, decreed by the head of the entity’s medical services, was « illegal ».

The Brazilian international points out that “the culture of harassment and sexist violence against women cannot be accepted or tolerated” and claims to have been the victim of “humiliating and shameful situations” during the months she was at Barcelona. «The fact of being a minor does not seem to have been an impediment, a moral dilemma for my aggressor. He certainly acted with the feeling of impunity, that he had the protection of his position within FC Barcelona », launches the current Levante footballer, who also accuses the entity’s director of football.

According to the South American player, “Barça is not directly responsible for the abusive behavior reported”, but expects the club to act “consistently and transparently” and investigate and report “possible crimes to the relevant authorities”. “Women deserve respect and dignity. I wish that the club, through its president, commits to implementing effective measures to combat this problem », she claimed.

“My personal and professional life was deeply affected by these demeaning and negative experiences. The memories, the trauma, and its effects are likely to last for many years. I lived through many months of anguish and sadness, something unimaginable when I arrived at the club,” added Queiroz, who considers that his experiences at Barcelona are a consequence of “the cultural and structural concepts of a patriarchal society.” “I hope that my testimony will also serve so that other women who suffer or have suffered some type of abuse or violence break their silence, raise their voices and denounce their aggressors,” Gio Queiroz proclaims in his letter. “A change is necessary, both in the way of thinking and acting of companies to break with patterns from centuries ago that can no longer continue,” claims the Brazilian soccer player who will turn 19 on June 21.