Palmeiras president Leila Mejdalani Pereira said CONMEBOL’s punishment of Cerro Porteno for racial abuse against Palmeiras under-20 player Luighi was too lenient, criticizing the South American governing body’s treatment of Brazilian clubs.

CONMEBOL fined the Paraguayan club $50,000 and banned fans from attending their home games during the Libertadores under-20 tournament, where 18-year-old striker Luighi was left in tears on Thursday when a man in the stands made racist gestures at visiting Palmeiras players.

“It hurts the soul,” Luighi later wrote on Instagram. “Until when? That is the question I hope we won’t have to ask at some point. For now, we keep fighting.”

Pereira said CONMEBOL’s punishment for Cerro was absurd.

“Firstly, I would like to express my indignation at CONMEBOL’s penalty of $50,000 and closed gates,” she told TNT Sports on Monday.

“If you’re a minute late entering the pitch, it’s $100,000. If you light a flare, $78,000. You see how CONMEBOL views the offence of racism. It’s absurd.”

Pereira said Palmeiras and other clubs have signed a letter to FIFA, asking the global governing body to intervene in cases of racism.

“Luighi’s tears hurt … it’s not possible that someone wasn’t moved by that boy’s sadness … the vast majority of Brazilian clubs have suffered this kind of crime,” she said.

Pereira said Brazilian clubs were not treated well by CONMEBOL despite the country accounting for 60% of the governing body’s revenue.

“When the incident happened, I called [CONMEBOL] president Alejandro [Dominguez], but I couldn’t talk,” Pereira added. “After I gave the interview that everyone saw, he called me and told me that he would be very strict with the sanctions, but from what I saw, he wasn’t that strict.

“[And you can see that] because of the sanction that CONMEBOL gave for this incident. I have no doubt that this is an incentive for new cases of racism to occur.

“But I have no doubts about the solidarity we have with all Brazilian clubs, the vast majority of which have already suffered this type of crime in South America, in tournaments organized by CONMEBOL, I have no doubt that this will not stay like this.

“We will take very serious measures against CONMEBOL. It is not with a little note, no, we have to take firm measures.”

Pereira even floated the prospect of Brazilian clubs ditching CONMEBOL and joining up with the North, Central American and Caribbean governing body Concacaf.

“I’ll even throw out an idea … why not think about joining Concacaf?” she said.

“I think that’s the only way they will respect Brazilian football, because Brazilian football isn’t being respected by CONMEBOL.”

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.

Aurélien Tchouaméni has called criticism of Kylian Mbappé “incredible” ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League round of 16 second leg away at rivals Atlético Madrid on Wednesday.

Real go to the Metropolitano with a slim advantage, after beating Atlético 2-1 in last week’s first leg at the Bernabéu, with goals from Rodrygo and Brahim Díaz.

Mbappé failed to score in an underwhelming display — his third consecutive game without finding the net — before getting back among the goals in Madrid’s 2-1 LaLiga win over Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, to make it 29 goals this season in all competitions.

“It’s incredible talking about ‘difficult days’ for [Mbappé],” Tchouameni said in a pre-match news conference on Tuesday. “Because he didn’t score in two games? We know that if he scores a goal or two tomorrow, everyone will be saying ‘he’s an incredible player.’ For us professionals, the most important thing is the next game. Kylian doesn’t need advice, he’s scored a lot of goals and he will score a lot of goals.”

The highlight of Mbappé’s season so far came in the previous round, scoring a hat trick against Manchester City at the Bernabéu, before drawing a blank against Atlético.

“Honestly Kylian wants to win and score goals every game, so there’s no extra motivation,” Tchouameni said. “He wants to be at his best level all the time, there’s no difference.”

The midfielder has faced criticism himself, but has played some of his best football in a Madrid shirt in recent weeks.

“For me, the most important thing is the next game,” Tchouameni said. “You can be the best in the world, but people will talk about your level, saying that they prefer other players. The most important thing is working and trying to improve all the time.”

Ancelotti said he expected another tight game against Atlético, who have never eliminated Real in the Champions League.

“As far as I remember, every game against Atlético has been even and competitive,” Ancelotti said. “Tomorrow will be exactly the same. It will be decided by small details, that’s what has always happened.”

Ancelotti praised Atlético coach Diego Simeone — saying they “have a similar idea of football” and said Real wouldn’t be overly focused on practising penalties in training, ahead of a possible shootout.

“In training, you can see which players shoot best,” Ancelotti said. “But in a shootout, the mental aspect is more important than the technical one. If you aren’t mentally ready, it can affect your technique. I’ve won Champions Leagues with defenders who scored penalties — [Alessandro] Nesta, Serginho [with AC Milan] — because mentally, they were well prepared.”

Al Nassr’s Jhon Durán scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo netted a penalty as the Saudi Pro League side booked a place in the Asian Champions League Elite last eight on Monday with a 3-0 win over Iran’s Esteghlal while Qatar’s Al Sadd beat Al Wasl.

Akram Afif was instrumental in Al-Sadd’s 3-1 victory in Doha and got on the scoresheet as he led Felix Sanchez’s side to a 4-2 aggregate win over the side from the United Arab Emirates.

Al Nassr’s win in Riyadh came after a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Tehran last week and takes Stefano Pioli’s team into the quarterfinals, which will be played in Jeddah as part of a centralised tournament from April 25 to May 3.

Duran put Al Nassr in front after nine minutes, with the Colombian lifting the ball over Seyed Hossein Hosseini after the Esteghlal goalkeeper gifted possession to the striker 25 metres from goal.

The Saudis doubled their lead from the penalty spot, Ronaldo stepping up in the 27th minute to convert with typical confidence following Mohammad Niknafs’ mistimed challenge on Sadio Mané.

Esteghlal’s task was made almost impossible when Mehran Ahmadi was sent off for a second bookable offence late in the first half as he caught Mohammed Al Fatil in the face with a flailing arm.

Duran claimed his second goal of the game six minutes from time when he whipped a low strike into the bottom corner having earlier hit the post as Al Nassr eased through.

“I think we played well,” said Mané. “We created many chances and we scored three goals. I think we got our reward.

“We pressed well together, we pushed them and they made mistakes and from that we scored three goals. We have a clean sheet and we cannot expect more than this.”

Al Sadd progressed as a result of an 11-minute spell in the first half against Al Wasl that saw the Qataris score three times to overturn Fábio Lima’s early opener.

The Brazil-born forward gave his side the lead in the 10th minute, sweeping a first-time shot home after Alexis Perez’s centre had arced over the Al Sadd back line.

But Afif unlocked the Al Wasl defence to haul Al Sadd level 16 minutes later, driving towards the byline before pulling the ball back into the path of Mostafa Meshaal who he slotted into the bottom corner.

Youcef Atal’s strike saw Al Sadd take the lead on the half-hour as he cut inside towards goal before his shot from the tightest of angles deflected past Khaled Al-Senaani via the boot of Al Wasl defender Jung Seung-hyun.

Asian Player of the Year Afif showed his quality with the third in the 37th minute, playing a short free kick to Claudinho and then bending the return into the top corner from 20 metres.

Mexico national team head coach Javier Aguirre announced the 23-player roster for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League matches during the March international window, with Raúl Jiménez and Santiago Gimenez headlining the squad.

Aguirre’s side will face Canada in the semifinal on March 20 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, before going on to face either the United States or Panama in the final or match for third place.

Mexico called up key figures that have been staples of the national team in recent competitions, including West Ham United’s Edson Álvarez, Club America goalkeeper Luis Angel Malagon and Genoa’s Johan Vazquez. But the head coach surprised fans with the inclusion of Tijuana forward Efrain Alvarez and FC Copenhagen’s Rodrigo Huescas.

The manager left out historic players like Guillermo Ochoa and Henry Martín, making way for new players to shine. New San Diego FC player Hirving Lozano also failed to make the 23-player roster after suffering a muscular injury in the team’s home opener on March 1.

Lozano was also left out of the rosters for Mexico’s Nations League quarterfinal series in November and friendlies in January due to injuries.

The Nations League semifinal and subsequent match serve as one of few competitive opportunities for Mexico on the road to the 2026 World Cup, given the team’s automatic spot in the international tournament as one of three co-hosts.

El Tri will also participate in the Gold Cup throughout the Summer as preparation.

To further prepare for the World Cup, Mexico has lined up friendlies against Switzerland and Turkey in June.