Tunisia denounces racism in Brazil game, await identity of culprit

• Bananas were thrown toward Richarlison
• Tunisia football body apologises
• Fifa instigating the incident

WHAT HAPPENED? During Richarlison's goal celebration after scoring the South Americans’ second goal at the Parc des Princes, bananas were thrown at the Tottenham Hotspur striker in an attempt to intimidate the five-time World Cup winners. In their response, the Tunisian football authority has apologized for the sad episode although feel the culprit is not a Tunisian.

WHAT THEY SAID: The Tunisian Football Federation wrote in a statement per BBC Sport Africa: "We strongly condemn any practice of racism that may occur in any stadium in the world.

"If the identity of the person who threw the banana is confirmed as being Tunisian, we apologise on behalf of him and on behalf of all Tunisians present at the stadium and who reaffirmed that the Tunisian fans are a phenomenon.

"We are surprised by ignoring the ideal behaviour of the overwhelming majority of the Tunisian fans present, whose number exceeded 40,000.

"Instead, some chose to insult Tunisia by insisting that the person who threw the banana is Tunisian in the absence of any evidence proving their identity, especially with Brazilian and other foreign countries fans present.

"We call on Tunisian fans not to conform with the phenomenon that exists in many stadiums in the world, which represents whistling the national anthem of competing teams," the statement continued.

"We hope that Tunisian fans will always be exceptional and perfectly behaved, especially when we are on the verge of the World Cup."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Fifa is investigating the incident and if the North Africans are found guilty, they could be handed a stiff punishment from the football governing body.

STORY IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT FOR TUNISIA?: With their seven-game unbeaten run ended against A Selecao, the Tunisians will now focus on the 2022 Fifa World Cup matches. They have been pooled in Group D alongside Denmark, Australia and reigning champions France.