On Sunday, Vinicius Junior was subjected to racist abuse once more, with the Brazilian star declaring that the Spanish league “now belongs to racists.”
The most recent abuse directed against Vincius occurred during Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss to Valencia. A game that was temporarily halted after a Brazil forward claimed he was abused by a supporter behind one of the goals at Mestalla Stadium.
“It wasn’t the first, second, or third time. Racism is prevalent in La Liga. “The competition, the federation, and the opponents all think it’s normal,” Vincius stated on Instagram and Twitter. “Racists now own the league that previously belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo), and (Lionel) Messi… But I’m a fighter. And I’ll fight the racists till the bitter end. Even though it’s a long way away.”
Vinicius Junior, a 22-year-old Black man, has faced racist harassment since migrating to Spain five years ago.
After Vincius claimed that fans at Mestalla yelled “monkey” at him. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti considered removing the star forward. He stated that Vinicius first refused to continue playing.
“What happened today shouldn’t happen,” Ancelotti stated. “When a stadium yells’monkey’ to a player and the coach considers taking him off the pitch as a result. It means that something is wrong in this league.”
Ancelotti came forward to support
After the game, the veteran coach refused to discuss it, claiming that his team’s loss meant nothing.
“The game should have been stopped,” remarked Ancelotti. “This should not have happened. It wasn’t just one person, as has occurred in other stadiums. The game had to be stopped because a stadium was racially taunting a player. I would have said the same thing if we had won 3-0. There was no way around it; you had to stop the game.”
Ancelotti claimed he asked the referee to stop the game. But was told that the protocol was to make an announcement to the crowd first, and then take other action if the problem persisted.
Ancelotti stated that Vinicius did not want to continue playing, but he assured the player that he was innocent and that he was the victim. Thibaut Courtois, Madrid’s custodian, stated he would have left the pitch with Vinicius if his teammate had opted to stop playing.
“Vinicius is obviously upset, but more than upset, he is sad,” Ancelotti explained.
