Racism in Mar del Plata: Ethiopian Racing basketball player beaten

The 19-year-old Racing basketball player born in Ethiopia, Welega Fresno Alfieri, is hospitalized in Mar del Plata, after receiving a beating in the framework of a fight with a group of young people who would have insulted him with racist comments. The athlete was admitted unconscious to the hospital during the early hours of Friday and was undergoing different studies to evaluate the extent of the injuries suffered.
Five players from the basketball team of Racing Club de Avellaneda, including Fresno, went out to the Playa Grande bowling area and entered Mr. Jones. Inside the bowling alley, the basketball players drew attention for the height, and in that framework a group of young people began to insult him and make racist comments because of the color of his skin. The athletes left the bowling alley and already on the street, Fresno continued to receive racist comments. “Ey negrito, negrito,” they shouted from behind, at which point tempers began to heat up, even more so when one said: “Get this black man out of here and this one because I break everything.” It was there that Fresno, along with two companions, got into a fight with blows against a group of about five young people. At the end of the fight, they sat on the shore to calm down and there they noticed that Fresno began to feel unwell, as if with difficulty breathing, so they called 911. Since they had a car, they decided not to wait for the ambulance and took Fresno directly to a hospital. In the first instance, they went to the Maternal and Child Hospital where they stabilized him and confirmed that he did not have any serious injuries and then to the Interzonal Hospital, where the basketball player was hospitalized and they did several studies. Police are waiting for Fresno to be able to testify, so he can testify about what happened and say whether or not he wants to prosecute. In the place where the fight occurred there are no municipal security cameras, so if there are images they would be from private cameras. For its part, Racing Club repudiated the attack and reported that the case was reported to the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI).

Original source in Spanish