Reactions have come in from top football officials following the racist abuse encountered by Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior in Sunday’s La Liga match at Valencia.
Los Blancos lost the game 1-0 but the game was headlined by Vinicius pointing out racist chants targeted towards him and led to the game being suspended for 10 minutes before the Brazilian got into an altercation with Valencia’s Hugo Duro that led to him receiving the first red card of his career.
Vinicius, a constant target of racism in Spain, hit out at La Liga, accusing the body of supporting and encouraging racism to which the league president Javier Tebas responded back saying Vinicius needed to be well-informed before criticising the league body.
“It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition considers it normal, the federation considers it normal and the rivals encourage it,” Vinicius posted on Twitter after the game.
Não foi a primeira vez, nem a segunda e nem a terceira. O racismo é o normal na La Liga. A competição acha normal, a Federação também e os adversários incentivam. Lamento muito. O campeonato que já foi de Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano e Messi hoje é dos racistas. Uma nação…
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) May 21, 2023
Tebas responded by saying: “Before you criticise and slander La Liga you need to inform yourself properly Vinicius Junior. Don’t let yourself be manipulated and make sure you understand each other’s competencies and the work we have been doing together.”
Ya que los que deberían no te explican qué es y qué puede hacer @LaLiga en los casos de racismo, hemos intentado explicártelo nosotros, pero no te has presentado a ninguna de las dos fechas acordadas que tú mismo solicitaste. Antes de criticar e injuriar a @LaLiga, es necesario… https://t.co/pLCIx1b6hS pic.twitter.com/eHvdd3vJcb
— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) May 21, 2023
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti leapt to Vinicius’ defence and said La Liga has a grave problem with racism. He said: “The Spanish league has a problem and it’s not Vinicius. Vinicius is the victim. The problem is very grave.” “The Spanish league has a problem and it’s not Vinicius. Vinicius is the victim. The problem is very grave.”
Luis Rubiales, the President of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), meanwhile admitted that there is a problem with racism within Spanish football and called on his Brazilian counterpart Ednaldo Rodriguez to ignore Tebas’ comments while the RFEF takes action on those culpable in the demeaning act.
“First of all, we need to admit that we have a problem. A problem of behaviour, of education, of racism. If only one fan, one nasty person, one group of nasty people, insult someone for their sexual condition, for their skin colour, for their religion, then we do have a serious problem,” Rubiales stated.
????️ ???????????????? ????????????????????????????????, presidente de la @RFEF: "Tenemos un grave problema". pic.twitter.com/D3EBTuLyAK
— RFEF (@rfef) May 22, 2023
Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his solidarity with Vinicius and called on the global governing body FIFA, La Liga and other football leagues to take stronger actions against racism.
“I would like to start this interview expressing my solidarity to a Brazilian player. Young, Black, plays at Real Madrid. Who, yesterday (Sunday), at Valencia stadium, was strongly attacked, being called a monkey. It’s not possible, almost in the middle of the 21st century, we have racism getting stronger in many soccer stadia in Europe,” Lula da Silva said.
Queria fazer um gesto de solidariedade ao @vinijr, um jovem que certamente é o melhor jogador do Real Madrid, e que sofre repetidas ofensas. Espero que a Fifa e outras entidades tomem providências, para não deixar que o racismo tome conta do futebol.
— Lula (@LulaOficial) May 21, 2023
“It’s not fair that a boy coming out of poverty, that won in life, that is becoming one of the best players in the world – he’s certainly the best at Real Madrid – is subjected to abuse at every stadium he plays. I think it is important that FIFA, the Spanish league and the leagues of other countries take the strongest actions possible, because we can’t allow fascism and racism becomes part of life at a soccer stadium.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was also in solidarity with Vinicius, stressing racism has no place in football. His statement read:
“Full solidarity to Vinicius. There is no place for racism in football or in society and FIFA stands by all players who have found themselves in such a situation. Events during the match between Valencia and Real Madrid show that this needs to be the case.”
Vinicius has been a standout player for Real Madrid this season with 44 goals involvement (23 goals and 21 assists) in 54 competitive games, his latest coming in Madrid’s 1-1 Champions League semi-final first-leg draw with Manchester City. Los Blancos ultimately lost the tie 5-1 on aggregate.
