The situation in Brazil is no different than the rest of Latin America regarding the spread of the coronavirus. The number of infected is 1,200 and 18 people have already diedHowever, there are some who still do not understand that the worsening of the situation could cause a health crisis, as is currently the case in Italy and Spain.
So the tennis player Joao Souza He published on his Instagram account a video with his sister in which he mocks the situation in the State of São Paulo, which this Friday decreed quarantine and is the first Brazilian state to make this decision. In the recording, which was later deleted, the athlete records his sister, whom he points out as being responsible for the current situation.
“You brought the coronavirus to Mogi. Mogi declared a state of public calamity due to this poor madwoman ”, Souza maintains in reference to Mogi das Cruzes, who is part of the state of São Paulo and already has four confirmed cases, one of them a three-month-old baby. Meanwhile, Maria Clara jokes about her attitude: “I brought the coronavirus to Mogi. Sorry guys. Now I am fine. I'm not in quarantine. "
Hours later, Souza published a new message to explain that it was a joke and that he did not want to generate discord: “Guys, it was a bad joke for some. My affection to people who care. We do not have, much less pass the coronavirus to anyoneIt was a conversation between brothers that I recorded and published. Whoever thought it was in bad taste, sorry. We are well and healthy at home. ”
His video caused him a judicial conflict, since the prosecutor Leandro Lippi initiated an investigation in this regard “for causing an epidemic, through the spread of pathogens; violate the Government's determination to prevent the introduction or spread of a communicable disease; and for making a public apology for a criminal act or a perpetrator. ”
The controversy seems to accompany Souza after he was suspended for life in January. The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU, according to its acronym in English) applied this harsh sanction to the 31-year-old player, then 742nd in the ATP ranking, as a result of various fouls he committed on the circuit, including the multi-match arrangement between 2015 and 2019. In addition, the South American was forced to pay a fine of $ 200,000.
The TIU investigation determined that, in the period between 2015 and 2019, Souza committed various infractions of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Among them, match fixing in Challenger and Futures tournaments that were played in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, the United States and the Czech Republic.
The player also violated other regulations: He did not alert authorities to the corruption offers he was receiving, did not cooperate with the TIU, destroyed evidence, and even asked other players not to "do their best."