Vinicius Jr was racially abused by Valencia fans during yesterday’s game in La Liga. The incident took place even before the game began with Valencia fans chanting ‘Vinicius is a monkey’ when the Real Madrid bus arrived to the stadium and it did not stop there.
The Real Madrid player was visibly in tears as the chants of ‘Vinicius, die’ and ‘Vinicius is a monkey’ were heard by EVERYONE, apart from the Valencia spokesperson, Javier Salis who stated: “The chants were ‘tonto’ (fool) and not ‘mono’ (monkey). We want Ancelotti to apologise for his mistake.”
Valencia flashed a sign to their supporters: “We are against violence and insults in football” but this did not stop here, the Valencia fans continued with the chants.
(Photo by Ricardo Nogueira)
Vinicius Jr spotted the Valencia fan who started chanting ‘monkey-like’ noises at the player and immediately pointed him out to the officials. The game was stopped momentarily and then resumed, with Vinicius receiving a red card for his altercation with Hugo Duro, but the latter received no punishment after evidently putting Vinicius in a ‘choke-like’ hold during the same altercation.
According to FIFA president, Infantino, ALL league’s must follow the three stage protocol, where the game must be stopped when chants are heard (it was), but if the chants continue the game must be ended and the opposition must receive the three points – this did not happen, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea continued with the game. Carlo Ancelotti was spotted telling the referee: ‘What are you doing? You told me you will stop the game, we can still hear the chants.’ The protocols were NOT followed to the maximum.
According to MARCA, Vinicius was seen saying ‘I don’t want to play anymore’ as he was visibly in tears.
Dani Ceballos spoke post game, where he stated: “We cannot go on like this, Vinicius is being insulted in all of Spain’s fields. A fight happened, but only Vinicius is sent off? How is this possible? It was a huge fight, Valencia players involved. We support Vinicius, we must protect him.”
Valencia player, Justin Kluivert spoke post game: “I don’t like to see what happened with Vinicius, this is not football. On behalf of Valencia, I apologise to Vinicius.”
After the game, Carlo Ancelotti stated: “I don’t want to talk about the game, how can I? I want to talk about what we heard. This league has a racism problem, the match must have been stopped. We have been complaining about this abuse all season and nothing is done, how can this be possible? There is something wrong with this league.”
Thibaut Courtois rushed to support Vinicius and spoke post game: “I started to hear the chants around the 20th minute, nothing was done. I support Vinicius, if he chose to walk off the pitch, I will follow him.”
Lucas Vazquez was the first Real Madrid player at the scene to defend his team-mate and had an altercation with the Valencia fans where he was seen saying: “You f*cking racists, you are a disgrace.”
After the game, Vinicius was confronted by a Valencia fan who asked ‘Are you going to apologise?’ and he rightfully responded with ‘are you stupid or what?’ This has been the 10th different racial incident Vinicius has suffered since October, 2021, as announced by La Liga.
Vinicius has since spoke on his social’s: “The prize the racists have won is my expulsion. It’s not football, it’s La Liga.”
The footballing world united in defending Vinicius Jr.
His Real Madrid team-mates, along with Rio Ferdinand, Kylian Mbappe, Ronaldo, Rafael Leao, Neymar, Sancho, Antony, Reece James, Balde, Casemiro amongst many others showed their support on social media.
The La Liga president, Javier Tebas responded on Twitter: “We have tried to explain it to you [What La Liga can do re. racism], but you have not shown up to any of the two agreed dates that you requested. Before you criticize and slander La Liga, you need to inform yourself properly.”
Vinicius responded back: “Once again, instead of criticizing racists, the president of LaLiga appears on social media to attack me. As much as you talk and pretend not to read, the image of your championship is shaken. See the responses to your posts and have a surprise… Omitting yourself only makes you equal to racists. I’m not your friend to talk about racism. I want actions and punishments. Hashtag’s don’t move me.”
Javier Tebas has since been heavily criticised for his statements by RFEF president. Luis Rubiales: “I ask Vinicius to IGNORE the irresponsible behavior of Javier Tebas. It is completely wrong.”
Another outrage was seen when the officials originally failed to note the racial abuse Vinicius Jr received during the game vs Valencia, before adding it an hour later blaming a ‘technological error’, as per ABC. The referee in charge, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea will somehow leave this without a punishment as he will referee the Wednesday’s game between Betis and Getafe.
Last night, Brazil’s president, Lula supported Vinicius: “A poor boy who won at life. One of the best players in the world and for Real Madrid. We will not allow racism to take over football stadiums. We will not tolerate it.” Since, the Brazilian federation has asked the Spanish federation to urgently provide answers, as per COPE. A statement was further issued from the government of Brazil: “We refuse yet another racist assault against Viní Jr. We’ will notify Spanish authorities and La Liga. Brazil Government will NOT tolerate racism neither here nor outside. We’ll work so every black athlete can play without experiencing this.”
Real Madrid will be demanding sporting sanctions for the Vinicius incident, if this does not happen, they will go to court against La Liga, the supporters responsible and Valencia, as reported by Onda Cero. This was followed by an official statement by Real Madrid.
“Real Madrid confirm that they have filed a complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office and specifically with the Prosecutor’s Office against hate crimes & discrimination.” https://www.realmadrid.com/noticias/2023/05/22/comunicado-oficial
Following this disgusting incident, reports from ESPN Brasil and UOL Esporte’s Bruno Andrade arrived that Vinicius could threaten to leave Real Madrid as the player is on the ‘edge’ if change does not happen. However, the reliable Fabrizio Romano has shut down these reports confirming Vinicius has extended until 2027 and does not plan to leave as he loves Real Madrid, much to the happiness of Madridistas.
Valencia released their official statement: “Valencia CF will ban the fans who made racist gestures at Vinícius Jr from the stadium for life. The club strongly condemns this type of behaviour, which does not correspond to the values of Valencia CF and its fans.” The club has confirmed they have worked with the police and have identified the supporter, with more individuals being investigated.
Another Valencia player, Diakhaby posted a message in support of Vinicius Jr: “I support Vinicius Jr, I hope my club does what is necessary to penalise those responsible”
(Photo by Real Madrid)
Barcelona’s manager, Xavi showed his support with a strong message in response to a journalist:
Journalist: “I’m sure the Madridistas will applaud your support.”
Xavi: “It’s not about Madridistas. Vinicius is a human being before he is a Real Madrid player, and you have to support all players, no matter the race.”
(Photo via Barcelona & Movistar)
More updates regarding this situation will follow, as Real Madrid seek to demand sporting sanctions and support Vinicius with maximum effort during this devastating situation.
Featured Image: (La Liga & The Independent)