Vinicius Junior wins clash with LaLiga – 05/24/2023 – Sport

Vinicius Junior had a winning day. Honored at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and applauded by his fans, the Real Madrid striker saw LaLiga president Javier Tebas apologize to him. He also received solidarity from the UN.

Tebas is the leader who had minimized the episode of racism suffered by the Brazilian player. The top hat had written on Twitter that he could not allow the championship’s image to be tarnished.

In interviews with the Brazilian Globo, ESPN and international news agencies, the manager said, this Wednesday (24), that the league is not racist and that, if he was misunderstood, he apologized.

Vinicius Junior complained about being insulted and called a “monkey” during the game between Real and Valencia, which was interrupted by arbitration last Sunday (21). These attacks led the Public Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation into “hate crime”, a criminal category that, in Spain, includes racial crimes.

Faced with Tebas’ response, Vinicius Junior went on the attack with photos, videos and messages highlighting episodes of racism suffered by him and other players. The attacker received support on social media from names in the sport. The Brazilian government demanded a response from the Spanish. Protest in front of the Spanish consulate in São Paulo, last Tuesday (23), called LaLiga “racist”, which Tebas guaranteed not to be.

The criticism found echo in the world. In SP, a protest by black movements took place in front of the Spanish consulate, under the chants of “racist LaLiga”.

The apology was a way of trying to reduce the damage to the image of the competition. In Tuesday’s matches, teams displayed banners repudiating racism. The messages were ordered by the Santander bank, which is sponsoring the tournament until the end of this season.

Days after the incident, Vinicius Junior had his expulsion in the match in Valencia rescinded. The stadium where the racial offenses against the athlete took place was partially closed for the next five matches.

The turn of the league and the Royal Spanish Federation could make him enter the field this Wednesday, in the match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano, at the Santiago Bernabéu. But, with pain in his knee, Vinicius was not selected.

Even so, he stepped onto the lawn to salute the fans who honored him.

The match, which ended in a 2-1 victory for Real, was marked by support for the Brazilian. The crowd at the stadium rose to applaud him in the 20th minute, the shirt number he wears. In a box, he thanked the support.

When entering the field, all Real Madrid players wore the number 20. A banner was hung behind one of the goals with the message in Spanish: “Vinicius, we are all. Enough now!” Several fans carried posters supporting the athlete.

When celebrating his goal, striker Rodrygo raised his arm, with a closed fist, in a characteristic gesture of the fight against racism.

Hours before the game, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, denounced the racist insults proffered against the Brazilian and called for joint efforts to eradicate this scourge from the sport.

“We call on all these sporting events around the world to confront, combat and prevent racism,” Turk said in Geneva, before noting that the new incident was a “brutal reminder of the prevalence of racism in sport”, he said.

Turk hailed, however, “a very strong reaction from the authorities”, noting that “they started arresting people very quickly”.

“An investigation must take place. This is a subject that will concern the Justice”, he added.

While acknowledging the many positive aspects of the sport, Turk says that you also have to “deal with the dark side”.

The High Commissioner has asked his services to prepare a guidance report on the issue of racism in sport.

“We want to propose a certain number of clear ideas about norms relating to human rights in sporting events”, he insisted, citing the problems of participation, inclusion and the “fight against stigmatization and racism”.