Paulão and other athletes suffered racism before Vini Jr – 05/22/2023 – Sport

Paulão, 41, saw scenes of racism and Vinicius Junior’s revolt. Begrudgingly, he had to remember his past. He was one of the victims of racial slurs in Spanish football that went unpunished. Cases sometimes even forgotten.

That’s what he believes will happen to whoever attacked the Real Madrid and Brazilian national team striker.

“Today, Vinicius must be receiving trillions of messages. Tomorrow everyone forgets. It remains for us, for those who suffered, for those who felt it. The question remains whether the next game will be the same… This brings anger. But it is something that remains with people,” he says.

Defender revealed by Atlético Mineiro, Paulo Afonso Santos Júnior today has a small school in Lagoa Santa, a city in the interior of Minas Gerais, his homeland. He also works as a player manager for a Portuguese company. He played in Portugal (Naval, Braga and Olhanense), France (Saint-Etienne), Mexico (San Luis).

His time at Real Betis, in Spain, was marked by the classic against Sevilla, in 2013.

“[Ver o caso de Vinicius Junior] It’s like digging up the past.”

When he was expelled, he heard part of his team’s own fans, at the Benito Villamarín stadium, call him a monkey and make animal sounds. He confesses to having been in doubt to whom it was directed until his teammates later told him: they were really for the Brazilian.

“Only those who go through this understand the feeling. It’s like leaving everything and going to be close to the family. Who am I next to Vinicius Junior? He’s a world name. But I believe that the feeling he has is very close to what happened to me that day,” he confesses.

Vinicius Junior accused Valencia fans of racism in last Sunday’s match (21), against Real Madrid, at Mestalla Stadium. In confusion with opponents, he was still expelled. It is the 10th time that the player has suffered from racial issues in Spain.

Valencia announced that it had identified a fan who allegedly offended the athlete and is working to find others. Real and the Brazilian government asked the country’s authorities to take action.

No one was punished in Paulão’s case, as well as in other accusations of racism made in Spanish football.

Vinicius’ case reopened the wounds of the dispute between Juan Cala, from Cádiz, and Mouctar Diakhaby, from Valencia.

In April 2021, Diakhaby accused Cala of calling him a “shitty black” in a game between the two teams. Valencia players left the field and later recorded videos of their displeasure to the Frenchman. The opponent has always denied the accusation, filed by the Sports Justice for lack of evidence.

“Today, Paul [zagueiro brasileiro do Valencia] and his friend didn’t leave the field hurt, did they? Today there are no announcements or videos. Today the exemplary fans are not going to accuse, are they? Time and only time puts every clown in his place,” wrote Cala on Twitter.

Diakhaby’s response was not long in coming.

“You keep talking because you’ve been protected so well. So shut up a bit.”

The excess of speech and the few actions make Paulão disbelieving in relation to severe punishments after what happened to Vinicius Junior. He always uses his own example as a ruler. Why will any club be punished for racist offences?

“It’s not going to change anything. You see the interviews of the president of LaLiga, of journalists… They never take a stand. It’s not going to be the fans who will have the attitude to change. Do you think they’re going to do something? . Imagine how many millions of reais are involved. It has to happen from the leaders and nothing will happen “, sentences the former defender.

President of LaLiga, Javier Tebas said he could not allow Vinicius Junior to tarnish the image of the competition.

Other Brazilians have also been targets of racism in Spain in this century. Atletico Madrid fans chanted to Real winger Marcelo that he was a monkey. Daniel Alves was the target of screams that imitated this same animal in Barcelona clashes against Espanyol and Villarreal. Both cases happened in 2014.

Upon seeing a banana thrown in the field, Alves peeled it and ate it. Villareal identified the person and banned him from their stadium.

Ronaldo threw a bottle at Malaga fans after hearing racial slurs in 2005. In the same year, Julio Baptista complained about being booed because of the color of his skin.

Africans also had problems. Cameroonian goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, from Espanyol, was even asked by the referee if he wanted a match against Zaragoza, in 2004, to be interrupted because of the offenses. In the same year and for Barcelona, ​​Samuel Eto’o, a Cameroonian like Kameni, threatened to leave the field in another game held at Zaragoza’s stadium.

In the 1990s, Nigerian goalkeeper Wilfred Agbonavbare, of Rayo Vallecano, heard people at the Santiago Bernabéu sing in a game against Real Madrid: “black son ***, pick the cotton”.

In the 2018 Catalan derby, Cameroon-born Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti claimed to have heard Espanyol’s Sergio García call him a “negro”. Garcia denied it.

Iñaki Williams, a Spanish striker of Ghanaian descent, was insulted by Sporting Gijón fans in 2016 and the match was stopped.

These are cases that increase Paulão’s disbelief that something is going to change.

“I can’t explain what goes through people’s minds to have attitudes like that [os racistas]. I think that in a little while another subject will appear and [o racismo] it’s like a smokescreen. People are not identified and will not be. In Brazil it is also like this. This is the world”, notes Paulão.

A report prepared by the Observatory of Racial Discrimination in Football and the Museum of the University of Rio Grande do Sul points out that in 2021 there were 64 cases of racism in Brazilian football.