Giovana Queiroz, currently of Levante Femenino, has penned an open letter to Barcelona President Joan Laporta saying she was harassed during her time at the club.
The letter was published on her personal Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon, in which she detailed some harrowing events while part of Barcelona.
Queiroz arrived in Catalonia at the age of 17 from Brazil and detailed how everything was going well initially. She also said she was received very well by players and coaches.
— Gio 🇧🇷 (@gio9queiroz) March 29, 2022
However, upon receiving a call up to the Brazilian national team, her situation changed dramatically. Queiroz tells of how it was intimated to her from certain members of the staff that it would not be a good move for her career if she were to accept the call up. She was pressured to turn down the call of her country.
She then details an incident in February of 2021, saying how she was imprisoned illegally by the head of the medical services. Under the pretext of a quarantine for being in close contact with a positive Covid-19 case. Having received authorisation from FIFA she travelled to Brazil and on her return was called into a meeting with a director, who told her she had committed a serious indiscipline. Upon returning home, Queiroz describes her feelings.
“I entered into a panic. I fered for my future. I returned home completely destroyed. I cried many times. I felt an enormous emptiness. I didn’t have the strength to fight for my rights.”
Queiroz goes on to describe how she was subjected to many instances of embarrassing and humiliating situations in the following months.
The Brazilian did say that Barcelona as a club are not directly responsible for the abuse, but did urge Laporta to take action against those who were and implement measures so that it didn’t happen to anyone else.
Shortly after that, Sport released an update with leaks from the club stating that they didn’t see eye-to-eye with her description of events. They say that Queiroz left her home and travelled illegally, committing a public health crime.
