Vinicius Jr. suffers racism and says he can leave Spain – 05/21/2023 – Sport

Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior, from Real Madrid, was expelled this Sunday (21) after confusion started after racist insults uttered against him by Valencia fans. The teams faced each other at the Mestalla stadium, for the 35th round of the Spanish Championship – the match ended 1-0 for Valencia.

Images published on social networks show the moment when the Real Madrid and Brazilian national team player faces fans of the home team close to the bottom line. The situation caused an agglomeration between athletes from both teams and the match was interrupted for a moment. Only the Brazilian was expelled after the confusion, with interference from the VAR (assistant video referee).

Vinicius signaled in a message on social networks after the game that he could leave Spain and said that racism “is normal” in La Liga. In a note, the Liga claims that it requested the images and that it will investigate “alleged racist insults directed at Vinicius Jr.”

“It wasn’t the first time, nor the second nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the Federation does too and the opponents encourage it. I’m very sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belong to the racists,” he wrote.

In the same message, he shows his dissatisfaction with the frequent insults he receives in different opposing stadiums.

“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which accepted to export the image of a racist country to the world. I am sorry for the Spaniards who do not agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And , unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no way to defend. I agree [com essa percepção]. But I am strong and I will go to the end against racists. Even if far from here.”

This Sunday, the insults began around 15 minutes into the second half, when the Brazilian was fouled and called “mono” (monkey, in Spanish) by opposing fans. The cursing continued, to the point where the stadium announcer intervened asking for an end to the screams, so that the match would not be suspended.

In addition, after Vinicius identified one of the fans and denounced him to the arbitration with gestures, players from both teams exchanged pushes. The Brazilian received a “rear naked choke” from striker Hugo Duro and, as he broke free, hit the Valencia player in the face.

After the match, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti came to Vinicius’ defense and classified what happened as “unacceptable”.

“The atmosphere was very tense, very bad, I asked him if he wanted to stay on the field. The fact that I think I have to remove him because of racism doesn’t seem right to me. I should remove a player if he is not playing well, but thinking about removing a player for racism, it never happened to me.”

The coach criticized the organization of the championship due to the frequency of racist insults received by the Brazilian striker.

“What happened today has happened other times, but not like this. It is unacceptable. The Spanish league has a problem that is not Vinicius. Vinicius is the victim. There is a very serious problem,” he added.

“They insult him the whole game and then show him the red card. I am very sad. The Spanish league is a league with great teams, beautiful environments, but that we have to remove. We are in 2023, racism cannot exist”, he concluded Ancelotti.

This is not the first time that Vinicius Junior has suffered from racist insults in Spanish stadiums. At the end of last year, the Brazilian publicly manifested himself to demand measures from the organization of the national championship.

“The racists continue to go to the stadiums and watch the biggest club in the world up close, and La Liga continues to do nothing. I will continue with my head held high and celebrating my victories and Madrid’s”, vented the striker on social networks after the duel with the Real Valladolid on December 30th.

Until March of this year, the League had already registered eight complaints of racism against Vinicius Junior. The case with the greatest impact took place in September 2022, before a classic against Atlético de Madrid.

“If you want to dance samba, go do it in Brazil. Here [na Espanha] he has to respect his colleagues in the profession and stop being a monkey”, said commentator Pedro Bravo during the television program “El Chiringuito”.

The case generated enormous repercussions, and Vinicius received support from important figures such as Neymar and Pelé. At the time, the hashtag #BailaVini (“Dance, Vini” in Spanish) was one of the most shared on social media.

In the next game, the striker danced with fellow Brazilian Rodrygo after his colleague’s goal in the 2-1 victory over Atlético.

In February of this year, the League created a specific commission to deal with cases of racism registered against the Brazilian striker.