Neemias Queta has been lighting up the Eurobasket tournament with incredible play. The NBA center recently set a new scoring record for Portugal in the European Championship finals. He racked up an impressive 75 points in the current edition. This kind of performance should make any nation swell with pride and celebrate its athletic stars.
However, off the court, a dark cloud of racist insults has targeted Queta online. These ugly attacks question his very Portuguese identity. Comments like “Africans should live in Africa” or “Go back to Africa, your pride is African, not Portuguese” have surfaced. Some even flat-out declare, “Portuguese never was,” denying his heritage entirely.
Nuno Markl, a widely recognized comedian and radio personality, quickly condemned these racist attacks. He drew a sharp contrast between himself and Queta. They share a few things: both are Cancers, both are Portuguese, and both have somewhat uncommon names. Queta’s surname, Barbosa, is actually more Portuguese than Markl’s own Austrian-origin surname. But that’s where the similarities end when it comes to facing prejudice. Markl noted that Queta, this athlete who should be a national hero, is the one receiving all the insults. The organization “GAC – Let’s Criminalize Racism” even documented some of these specific slurs.
Markl, 54, was born in São Domingos de Benfica, Portugal, on July 21, 1971. Queta was born in Barreiro, Portugal, on July 13, 1999. Despite Austrian blood flowing through Markl’s veins, he has never heard calls to “go back to Austria” in his 54 years. No one has questioned his Portuguese nationality. This stark contrast makes the cause of the hate against Queta painfully clear. Markl firmly believes it is solely about the color of Queta’s skin. He notes these bigoted remarks often come from people who start sentences with “I’m not racist, but…”
Queta represents the best of Portuguese basketball on the global stage. He’s an athlete everyone should celebrate, and his birth in Portugal makes him unequivocally Portuguese. To question that, especially given his dedication and success for the national team, is a disservice. It undercuts the spirit of sport and national pride. As Portugal prepares to face Germany in the Eurobasket round of 16 tomorrow at 1:15 PM, the focus should be on the game. Instead, the nation grapples with these ugly displays of prejudice. Markl’s message stands as a powerful reminder to champion inclusion and fight racism head-on.
