Case of Vinicius Junior divides Spain – 05/22/2023 – Sports

The new racist insults against the Brazilian player Vinicius Junior, this Sunday (21), in Valencia, and, mainly, a publication that the Brazilian player later made on Twitter — saying that “today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists” — divided Spain on Monday.

Almost all political parties, in addition to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, have come forward to condemn the acts and say that Spain is not a racist country. The television alternated all day the news of Vinicius Junior with other events in the country. On Twitter, four of the ten most cited subjects referred to the match between Real Madrid and Valencia.

The Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, for example, said that “racist screams against #ViniciusJr cannot be trivialized or normalized. Enough of racism in sport and in our society. If you suffer a racist attack, you can call 021”.

If the majority of the country supports Vinicius Junior and unconditionally condemns the racism he was subjected to, it remains for some, in general Valencia fans, to try to justify the hatred with a “but”.

A tweet from the spokesman for the Republican Left of Catalonia sums up the general tone. Gabriel Rufián repeated the phrase “nothing justifies racism” in front of the flags of seven countries: Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and the United Kingdom. In front of the Spanish flag, however, he wrote “nothing justifies racism, but you can’t go around provoking either”.

This is an argument that has been used by Vinicius Junior’s detractors. Borja Sanjuán Roca, spokesperson for the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) in Valencia, the same as Pedro Sánchez, but a Valencia fan, had this reasoning:

“I will never defend any racist insult that could be directed at any player, but that’s not what happens with Vinicius. That player is a disgrace to football.”

And then: “No racist insult can be tolerated, but also Ancelotti [treinador do Real Madrid] You can’t accuse the entire stadium of something that didn’t happen. The Mestalla [estádio do Valencia] it’s much more than Vinícius and the lies, even if whoever says them feels supported by all the media powers in Madrid”.

In Valencia, some even seem to think that the problem is the media. Journalist (and fan) Paco Polit, for example, said that, “if the national press seems difficult to you, don’t read the international press”.

And yet: “Eradicating racist behavior on Spanish pitches is a task for all of society. The provocative and unsportsmanlike behavior of a player like Vinicius is a LaLiga issue. can’t get him back on track.” This “unsporting” behavior is often Vinicius Junior’s dance after he scores a goal.

Zimmermann published on his Facebook an account about Sunday night: “I chose the city of Valencia to live and I want to stay here forever. Here we are happy, me and my family, we feel welcomed, we like the people, the traditions, the environment But during the match between Valencia and Madrid, as I heard from my house, which is next to the Mestalla, the crowd screaming “Mono, mono” for Vinicius Junior, it gave me a very bad feeling. We were watching the game on TV , and my 5-year-old son asked me what was going on as they weren’t playing football anymore, and I didn’t know what to say.”

The journalist Polit, on the other hand, saw the game like this: “End, 1-0. 40 points. A deserved victory for Valencia. And the biggest embarrassment carried out by a visiting football player in 100 years of stadium. La Liga, wake up: attitudes of this type it’s your fault. You allowed him EVERYTHING and he believed it.”

The 40 points that Polit refers to in his post are the team’s points in the Spanish championship table, which ran, until this Sunday’s game, great chances of falling to the second division. Vinicius Junior’s 1-0 victory over Real Madrid removed that chance – even though there is a mathematical possibility of less than 1% drop.

It was therefore a game of life and death for Valencia. But…