‘Love will always overcome hate’, posts Vini Jr. after the doll with his shirt appears hanged

Vinicius Junior used his Twitter profile this Friday to reinforce his rejection of discrimination. The day before, a doll with his shirt and number appeared hanged on a bridge in Spain a few hours before the derby between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid for the Copa del Rey.

“Love will always triumph over hate,” the player wrote on the microblog, using emojis of an upturned black fist, hearts in nine colors and a man standing with his arm raised.

EL LOVE WILL ALWAYS WIN EL HATE ✊🏿
🤍🤎🖤♥️💚🧡💜💛💙🕺🏾

— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) January 27, 2023

The player’s representation was hung near the Real Madrid training center, accompanied by a banner that read “Madrid hates Real”, as shown in photos and videos recorded by the local press.

“We are investigating what happened,” police sources told AFP, without giving further details at this time.

According to the Spanish press, the motto that appears on the doll is often used by radical fans of Atlético de Madrid.

“We strongly condemn acts of hatred against @vinijr. Intolerance and violence do not belong in football. As on previous occasions, #LaLiga will urge the verification of the facts in search of the conviction of those responsible, requesting the most severe criminal sanctions”, stated the account on Twitter of the first division of the Spanish professional football league.

The incident took place just hours before the match for the quarterfinals in a single game at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in the Spanish capital.

In a statement, Real Madrid thanked “the support and expressions of affection received after the regrettable and disgusting act of racism, xenophobia and hatred against our player Vinicius”.

“We express our firmest condemnation of events that violate the fundamental rights and dignity of people, and that have nothing to do with the values ​​that football and sport represent,” said the club.

“These attacks like the ones that our player is now suffering, or those that any athlete can suffer, cannot take place in a society like ours. Real Madrid is confident that all the responsibilities of those who participated in such a despicable act will be expunged.” “, he concluded.

‘Disgusting facts’

Atlético de Madrid also repudiated the action of hanging the player’s representation.

“The rivalry between the two clubs is maximum, but so is respect. No individual, whatever their intentions or colors, can tarnish the coexistence between different hobbies. It is everyone’s responsibility to avoid it”, begins the statement.

The club stated “that facts like this are absolutely disgusting and inadmissible and embarrass society”.

“Our condemnation of any act that threatens the dignity of people or institutions is forceful and categorical,” he added.

“We do not know the author or authors of this despicable act, but anonymity does not exempt them from responsibility. We hope that the authorities can clarify what happened and that justice will help to banish this type of behavior”.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) also “regrets and strongly condemns the intolerable act” committed a few hours after the Madrid derby, by sending “a message of support to Vinicius, directly threatened by the radicals in a deplorable way”.

“This type of demonstration, filled with hate, only encourages violence and has no place in our sport,” the RFEF added in a statement.

“We condemn this inadmissible episode, which constitutes a hate crime. The AFE is already in contact with various institutions and will appear as a private prosecution in any case that opens on this intolerable fact”, warned the AFE players’ union.

The CBF also repudiated what happened.

cases of racism

Vinicius was again the target of racist insults in the last match between the two teams.

In last September’s league derby, which the Whites won 2-1, some Rojiblanco fans chanted racist insults against Vinícius before and during the match.

Such facts were taken to the courts, which closed the process for not having found a crime or guilty parties.