Brazil and Spain will play a friendly in March 2024

The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, and the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, presented, accompanied by players Rodrigo Moreno and Ansu Fati, the friendly match that Spain and Brazil will play in March 2024, at the Santiago Bernabéu, under the motto ‘One skin’, in a football cry against racism.

“We are very happy to announce a match that was born of the violent episodes, of the racist insults” suffered by the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior, of Real Madrid, in the Mestalla stadium, as it had happened before in other Spanish stadiums, explained Luis Rubiales.

“I immediately spoke with Ednaldo and on the same day we started working. We really wanted to play after 25 years in Brazil without coming to Spain. Football was invented to enjoy and not to generate violence with people who use it as a shield. Brazil, one of the countries that has most contributed players to our football”, added the president of the RFEF.

The match between Spain and Brazil will be played in March next year at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, “the ideal setting for a high-level game between two of the best teams in the world,” said Rubiales.

And in parallel with the celebration of the meeting, the Federation develops “the equality observatory” and will hold “conferences to combat violence and racism in football” with “important protagonists and high-level people”.

“The key is to avoid any type of violence, skin color, sexual orientation, creed. Violence in football has no place. We have an education problem and Spain is a welcoming, open country that welcomes many nationalities. We are concerned to do everything to prevent it and we will pursue those who tarnish the name of a city as fabulous as Valencia and a whole country like Spain that receives millions of tourists”, he assured.

For his part, Ednaldo Rodrigues left a message of unity in the fight against racism, happy to launch in a game of the greatness of Brazil x Spain, which guaranteed to stop world football.

“It is a great happiness for Brazil to be able to play in Spain a match that closes a cycle between two great teams that are among the best in the world. The message must awaken the world, censuring all types of discrimination and racism. Football is a sport that gives joy and racism does not fit in football, nor in any sport”, he said.

“The initiative between the two Federations is to send a joint message. We must say enough is enough and nothing better than with a game that will be seen around the world to send a united message. It is a joy for world football to purify and drive away those who hate it. despise with a contrary initiative in one of the best matches in 2024”, he added.

Ednaldo, stating that he has been fighting racism for 60 years, recalled that his first decision in charge of the CBF was the creation of a seminar “to combat any type of intolerance, especially racism”. From there, “football observatories that work every day in the fight against racism” were developed.

And he asked that the punishment not be just financial. “Financial sanctions are not enough for clubs that pay fines, there is a responsibility that must be assumed by Federations and clubs that must work on prevention, knowing the damage that any type of xenophobic or racist action causes.”

For a player from the Spanish national team – if he has the opportunity to be there – next year’s friendly will be special. Brazil-born striker Rodrigo Moreno said he would love to be on the field.

“Without a doubt it is a great match, playing against Brazil is always special, the country of football and reference for many years. I was able to play against them in an U-20 World Cup and it was a very special feeling. Being able to be here with Spain is a source of pride for me, it’s a great recognition”, he recognized.

“The match is a great initiative by both Federations and their presidents. It is very important to use the power of football to be able to denounce discrimination in all areas of our lives”, he stated.