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Tabata and other Palmeiras substitutes drew
attention to racist abuse from Cerro Porteno fans during the
match, which was played in May. However, CONMEBOL's Disciplinary
Tribunal on Friday sanctioned the Brazilian for "unsportsmanlike
conduct".
Palmeiras will appeal against the punishment, applied to
competitions organised by the South American governing body, for
which they collected video footage in order to present the case.
"Completely mistakenly, I was denounced by the Cerro Porteno
team for making racist gestures to the fans of the Paraguayan
club in our Libertadores away game, acts that I did not commit
in any way," Tabata said in a video sent to CONMEBOL.
"What actually happened was that I heard the fans shouting 'monos'
(monkeys) at the players who were on the pitch, near the north
stand. We don't speak Spanish and we didn't understand what was
going on.
"When we understood, I asked them back and wanted to understand
if that was it, if they were calling us monkeys.
"I was denouncing the racism that was taking place by their
fans, because they are the ones responsible, not us," he added.
In a video posted on social media and published by local media
outlet Globo Ge, a Porteno fan recorded himself calling
Palmeiras players monkeys and shouting other insults.
CONMEBOL also fined Cerro Porteno $100,000 and ordered the
partial closure of the lower north stand of the General Pablo
Rojas stadium for their next home game, which must be covered
with a banner reading "Basta de racismo" (Stop racism).
CONMEBOL did not immediately respond to a request for comment
from Reuters.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Ken
Ferris)
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