Brazilian male volleyball player Maurício Souza is no longer a member of Fiat/Gerdau/Minas.
Maurício Souza, the Olympic champion from Rio 2016, spoke on Instagram about his homophobic comments, explaining what he wanted to say. This only made his situation worse as he was not only removed from the Minas team, but now, the Belo Horizonte club terminated the contract with the player. In a video posted on his social media profile, Maurício Souza apologized to those who felt offended by his comment that started all this commotion but didn’t repent for that.
“I came here to apologize to everyone who was offended by my opinion and because I defend what I believe. It wasn’t my intention. Just as you stand up for what you believe, I also have the right to stand up for what I believe. And we need to fight for it. Unfortunately, we can no longer give an opinion, we can no longer put values above everything else, family values, the values we believe. But, we have to respect your values at any cost or we are labeled as homophobic or prejudiced. I don’t agree with that,“ said the 33-year-old middle blocker and additionally wrote: “It’s not mine’s fault! It’s the fault of the guys who no longer accept opinions contrary to theirs, anything said that isn’t what they approve of you is a homophobic and prejudiced fact. Tolerance on the other side is zero!“
In the meantime, the head coach Renan Dal Zotto said there will be no room in the Brazil National Team for Maurício Souza and players with similar standpoints.