The President of the Panama Football Association has landed in hot water with fans, the media, and authorities after publicly fat-shaming a female player from the national team. Manuel Arias has since been suspended and fined, admitting that his comments were a mistake.
The player in question is Marta Cox, who most recently played for Tijuana in the Mexican League. With over 40 appearances for Panama, she is one of the squad’s most experienced players. Cox had openly criticized the poor facilities following Panama’s exit from the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup group stage.
FIFA has suspended president of the Panama Football Federation (FEPAFUT) Manuel Arias after he called national team player Marta Cox “fat” and “out of shape”.
Arias has been banned from all football-related activity for six months and fined CHF 10,000 ($10,932, £8,981) after… pic.twitter.com/XZoe9lEfy7
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) January 18, 2025
Arias, however, did not take her remarks kindly and responded with comments that FIFA deemed derogatory. As quoted by Reuters, he said:
“Marta Cox stopped to talk about our league. She’s out of shape, she’s fat, she couldn’t move on the pitch.”
He further criticized her for being unaware of the league’s operations, stating:
“It’s very easy to talk, but she doesn’t know anything about the Panama league for years, she doesn’t know what’s going on here.”
As a result, Arias lost his position and was suspended from all football-related activities for six months. FIFA’s ethics committee also fined him 100,000 CHF (£8,981).
Article 24 of the FIFA Code of Ethics states:
“Persons bound by this code shall protect, respect, and safeguard the integrity and personal dignity of others. Persons bound by this code shall not use offensive gestures and language in order to insult someone in any way or to incite others to hatred or violence.”
Arias was found to be in clear breach of this regulation following comments he made in March 2024. He later apologized and expressed his willingness to accept any punishment imposed by FIFA.
Meanwhile, Cox told Reuters that she was deeply hurt by being singled out and subjected to such derogatory remarks about her body. She even threatened to step away from representing the Panama national team, citing the emotional toll of the incident.
