Dibu Martinez’s gesture after losing to Colombia was not taken well by Colombian sports journalists, who have called for disciplinary action on the Argentina goalkeeper through an official statement. Among several arguments, the journalists insist the slap on the camera represents a bad example for the new generations.
The Colombian Association of Sports Journalists – ‘ACORD Colombia’ – strongly rejected the “aggressive act” of the Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez, who slapped a the camera following him, minutes after the final whistle that sealed Argentina’s 2-1 defeat to Colombia on Wednesday.
“Hitting the cameraman’s equipment on the ground constitutes an attack to freedom of expression, which our association does not allow”. Colombia is a country in which “the freedom to inform is respected,” insist the journalists in a statement.
In response to the circumstances, the journalists urged the Colombia Football Federation to “firmly stand up to the CONMEBOL, the Argentina Football Association and FIFA”.
To conclude their message, ‘ACORD’, as a “figure of sport journalistic discipline demands that FIFA take disciplinary action” against Emiliano Martinez, who is “no role model for the new generations”.
Martinez, who is known for often losing his composure, greeted multiple Colombian players – his Aston Villa teammate Jhon Jader Duran was one of them – before he went-on and hit the camera with his gloves. The goalkeeper then went back to hugging his teammates, as if nothing had happened.
The events were captured by the cameras broadcasting the match in Barranquilla, and conversations then took off on social media, alongside videos that circulated in all platforms, with Colombian fans labeling ‘el Dibu’ a sore loser for his actions.
With their 2-1 victory, Colombia has put an end to a 31-year-streak of losses against the ‘Albiceleste’ at the Metropolitano de Barranquilla.