Brazilian coach Abel Braga apologizes for homophobic comment about pink training shirts

A 73-year-old coach who retired to try to save a top Brazilian football team from relegation has apologized for homophobic comments within hours of his appointment.

Abel Braga was introduced on Sunday as coach of Internacional, which is facing the abyss with two games to go. But his first press conference in the city of Porto Alegre turned controversial when he discussed training equipment.

Braga recounted a conversation with sporting director Andres D’Alessandro: «I said: ‘I don’t want my crazy team to train in pink shirts, it looks like a team of fags.'»

When asked about the slur later at the press conference, the coach claimed it was said “in a light-hearted tone” as part of efforts to motivate his struggling side.

«I had to relax my group today, you understand. I want the boys to be strong,» he explained, saying his intention was to reduce tension in the locker room.

“Before this spreads, I apologize.”

Faced with a social media backlash, Braga felt compelled to address the controversy Instagram before the day was over.

«I acknowledge that I did not make a good comment about the color pink during my press conference. Before this spreads, I apologize. Colors do not define genders. What defines them is character,» he wrote. Neither his club nor the Brazilian Football Federation have commented.

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Internacional, fourth from bottom with 41 points, must beat Sao Paulo and Bragantino in their last two matches to avoid relegation.

Braga, who took the job on an unpaid basis on a contract that covers only the remaining matches, is a club legend, having won the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental titles as coach in 2006.

He had stopped coaching for three years.

In 2024, manager Helio dos Anjos was suspended for nine matches in Brazil’s second division for homophobic remarks against a referee in a match between Paysandu and Volta Redonda. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 20,000 reais ($3,750).

Published on December 1, 2025