Vinicius Junior (23, Real Madrid), who experienced racism, has shared his own evidence.
Vinicius was subjected to racial slurs during a match against Valencia in the 35th round of the 2022-2023 Spanish La Liga at the Estadio de Mestalla in Valencia, Spain, on Sept. 22.메이저놀이터
The racial slurs directed at Vinicius by Valencia fans during the match, which Real Madrid lost 0-1, have become a hot topic. The Valencia fans blatantly shouted “monkey” and mimicked monkeys before the game and didn’t stop their racist taunts during the game.
Eventually, the racist taunts from the Valencia crowd caused Vinicius to explode. During the match, Vinicius got into an argument with the Valencia crowd and clashed with Valencia players, leading to his ejection. Vinicius even complained to the referee that he was being racist by pointing to a specific spectator.
“It’s not the first time, it’s not the second time, it’s not the third time. Racism is a normal behavior in La Liga. The competitors think it’s normal and so does the federation,” he wrote, revealing the frustration he had been holding in.
“The league that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi now belongs to racists,” he continued.
“I’m sorry for the Spaniards, but in Brazil today, Spain is known as a country of racists. Unfortunately, I have no way to defend myself against this, which happens every week. But I am strong and I will fight against racists,” he emphasized.
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said after the game, “I don’t want to talk about soccer today. We have to talk about much more important things,” he said, adding, “La Liga has a problem. I’ve never seen racism where the whole stadium is chanting ‘monkey’,” and criticized the Valencia fans.
However, La Liga president Javier Tebas’ response to Vinicius’ racism was even more controversial. Instead of apologizing, Tebas actually criticized Vinicius.
“We tried to explain to you what racism is and what La Liga can do about it, but you didn’t attend the two dates you asked for yourself,” Tebas wrote, sharing Vinicius’ post.
“Before you criticize and insult La Liga, you should educate yourself. Don’t manipulate yourself and fully understand each other’s abilities and what we have done together,” he added, before blaming the victimized player.
Valencia spokesperson Javier Solis went further and pointed out Ancelotti’s comments. “Valencia cannot tolerate anyone saying that our fans are racist. We strongly reject his comments,” he said, clearly uncomfortable with Ancelotti’s remarks. “We strongly reject the comments made by Ancelotti,” the club said.
Vinicius took to social media the next day to say, “Every round of away games is an unpleasant surprise. This season there have been many of them,” he said, adding that “dummies hanging in the hope of death, the screams of countless criminals. It’s all recorded,” he said, posting the video.
The video includes racist behavior from away fans chanting at Vinicius. In September last year, Atletico Madrid fans chanted “Vinicius is a monkey” and in December, Valladolid fans made monkey noises while shouting “stupid nigger”. In February of this year, Mallorca fans said “Eat a banana” and in March, Barcelona fans cursed “Vinicius die”.
“They always say ‘isolated incident,’ ‘one fan,'” Vinicius said. No. They are widespread events that continue to happen in different cities in Spain. They even appear in TV programs,” he complained.
“The evidence of racism is in the video. Now I ask you. How many of these racists have their names and photos exposed on websites?” I answer more easily. None,” he said, emphasizing that “no one has a sad story to tell or apologize to a fake public.”
“Is there anything lacking to explain that these are criminals? And do clubs punish them sportingly? Why don’t sponsors charge for La Liga? Doesn’t TV prevent them from broadcasting this barbarism every weekend?” wondered Vinicius.