Soccer-Brazilian Cup tie postponed pending racism hearing

By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A Brazilian Cup tie between Santos and Gremio has been postponed until officials decide what action to take over alleged racist taunts by fans in the first leg. The last-16 second leg was scheduled to take place on Sept. 3 but a hearing has now been set for that day by the Superior Court of Sporting Justice (STJF). Anticipating appeals, the president of the court said he hoped the case would be resolved inside 20 days. Santos won Thursday's first leg 2-0 but the tie was overshadowed by racist taunts aimed at their goalkeeper Aranha. Fans of Gremio shouted 'monkey' and other abuse at Aranha, causing public outrage, and the club could now be kicked out of the tournament or fined 200,000 Brazilian reais ($89,000). "The alleged infraction goes beyond sport," the STJF's football tribunal president Caio Cesar Rocha said in a statement. One Gremio supporter lost her job on Friday after she was identified screaming insults and the club said they would take action against others. The episode was the latest in a string of unsavoury incidents in Brazilian football. Gremio were fined 80,000 reais ($35,800) in April after fans racially abused an opponent in a local derby with Internacional. Santos midfielder Arouca was also racially abused this year by fans of Mogi Mirim after a Paulista state championship game, prompting authorities to close the Mogi stadium for several matches. Racism is a criminal offence in Brazil but few people are charged and even fewer are jailed. (Editing by Julien Pretot)