Brazilian soccer player Giovana Queiroz denounced that she suffered “abuse and psychological violence” at Barcelona , ​​and she did so through an open letter addressed to president Joan Laporta , which she published on her Twitter account. The player arrived at the club in 2020, at the age of 17, and remained until 2021, despite the fact that her contract ended in 2023. “Today I feel capable of denouncing the abusive behavior that I suffered within Barcelona’s women’s football,”she prefaced her letter the current member of the Levante squad.

Queiroz pointed to the first summons he received from the Brazilian team as the starting point for the conflicts. “First I received indications that playing for the Brazilian team would not be the best for my future,”she charged. “In February 2021 I was subjected to an illegal confinement by the head of the club’s medical services,” he said. According to her version, from Catalonia they claimed that it was close contact, although she took advice from the authorities and they told her that it was not.

“In the end they illegally locked me up and I couldn’t leave my house. I couldn’t train or have a normal routine. I was devastated,” she recounted in her letter. Then, she stated that, with authorization from FIFA, she traveled to join her team. But when she returned “I was accused of committing serious indiscipline and that, therefore, she would be removed from the team and would suffer serious consequences. I was in shock”.

“From that moment my life changed forever,” she continued. “I was completely exposed to humiliating and shameful situations . It was clear that she (in relation to the club’s director), “seeked to destroy my reputation, undermine my self-esteem, degrade my working conditions, underestimate and underestimate my psychological conditions,” she stressed.

“Over time, the abuse and psychological violence became more intense and destructive,”she added. The footballer ended up breaking the contract and moving to Levante. “I hope that FC Barcelona fulfills its institutional role and acts consistently and transparently, investigating and reporting possible crimes to the relevant authorities. I also want the club, through its president, to commit to implementing effective measures to combat the evident and well-documented problem of moral abuse, workplace harassment, and psychological violence against women,” she demanded.

Barcelona answered him. Markel Zubizarreta , sports director, spoke with Cadena Serand gave her version of the facts. “The Gio case happened a year and a half ago. Obviously all this type of harassment, sexist behavior or humiliation has no place in Barça for women and in Barça as an institution. What happened we do not believe is related to these adjectives. Gio was one of the people affected by an outbreak of COVID-19 that broke out in La Masía, which caused a Barça B match to be suspended. It caused several players to be unable to go with their national teams, some with the Spanish U-19 or as in the case of Gio with Brazil. She made the decision to skip the confinement to go with the Brazilian team to play in the United States. When she returned, we informed her that she would become part of the female B as one more player.

Categorized in:

Sports