Rafael Leão, AC Milan and Portugal national team forward, wrote something on his secondary Instagram account that no female football fan wanted to read just as the World Cup had ended.
In English, he told women that they could now “stop pretending they understand football”. It took only minutes for the phrase to spread to X, TikTok and Instagram, bringing with it thousands of comments accusing him of being sexist and condescending.
Leão deleted the post, yes. But instead of apologizing, he posted another story asking people not to take that account seriously. No “sorry”, no acknowledgment of the mistake. Is it enough to say it was a joke?
