Little wonder Vinicius Jr is ready to leave amid racist abuse
PETE JENSON: After suffering racial abuse on TEN separate occasions in Spain, there is little wonder why Real Madrid star Vinicius Jnr is ready to leave the country
- Real Madrid forward was racially abused during the loss to Valencia on Sunday
- It is understandable that he took matters into his own hand after hearing chants
- Vinicius Jr did not provoke Valencia fans as abuse started long before his antics
It’s now been ten times that Real Madrid forward Vinicius has been racially abused inside a Spanish football stadium – it’s little wonder the 22-year-old has suggested he could leave the country and play elsewhere.
It’s also understandable that he took matters into his own hands on Sunday night when the monkey noises and gestures started up again in the game against Valencia at Mestalla.
Never before had a player taken the step of physically identifying the perpetrator of the racist abuse. Vinicius did not wait for the game to be stopped; he stopped playing.
And he didn’t wait for the authorities to bungle attempts at identifying the culprits. He took matters into his hands immediately pointing out the individuals to stewards.
There have been outrageous claims that he provokes the abuse by the way he behaves on the pitch. On Sunday the abuse started long before a ball was kicked.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr was racially abused during the loss to Valencia on Sunday
It’s understandable that he took matters into his own hand after hearing the monkey chants
He was sent off after a late altercation with a Valencia player, and was upset as he left the pitch
When he climbed off the team bus at Mestalla there were choruses of ‘Vinicius is a monkey’.
The same thing happened last September at the gates of Atletico Madrid’s stadium.
And in January, ahead of another match against Atletico, an effigy wearing a Vincius shirt was hung from a bridge in the Spanish capital.
These 10 incidents go back to October 2021 when he was racially abused away at Barcelona and despite LaLiga reporting the incident those responsible were never properly identified despite 60 or so cameras at the stadium.
There is a desire for change among the majority of supporters and from those working in football, but while they wring their hands, other wash theirs of all responsibility.
As things stand LaLiga have no jurisdiction to close stadiums and can only report racism to the authorities.
And what has followed has been an overriding failure of the courts to take effective action.
The excuses for not handing out exemplary sentences range from the prosecution not accepting the phrase ‘go pick bananas’ to be racist, to courts not deeming social media activity of the accused to be ‘of a racist nature’.
These 10 incidents go back to October 2021 when he was racially abused away at Barcelona
On Monday La Liga president Javier Tebas was instead engaged in a twitter spat with Vinicius
Increasingly questions are being asked as to why LaLiga can’t follow UEFA’s lead and punish clubs without needing to refer things to a higher authority.
But LaLiga, the Spanish FA and the Ministry for Sport would need to come together to make that possible and such a united front does not look imminent.
On Monday La Liga president Javier Tebas was instead engaged in a twitter spat with Vinicius on social media.
While there were platitudes from the Spanish FA, met with criticism from Real Madrid who criticized the lack of concrete action.
The buck is passed from one body to the next while television pundits are left to provide the only voices of reason.
Former Spanish professional footballer and Equatorial Guinea international Alberto Edjogo eloquently explained why racist insults have to be treated differently and with more severity.
He said: ‘With an insult focused in a discriminatory way on a player’s race, ethnicity, sexuality, what you are doing is condemning, not just Vinicius, you are also condemning the guy who tries to rent an apartment and is rejected because he is of Senegalese origin, or the person who delivers your food who happens to be of Indian origin.
‘I have a young daughter and I say to everyone: how would you feel about a kid who loves football but when a player gets called a ‘f***ing monkey’ and nothing happens, something similar gets said to your daughter the next day in school.’
Carlo Ancelotti (above) and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said Madrid should have walked off
The impact of Edjogo’s comments was an illustration of how this could be a turning point. There is a recognition that for too long nothing has changed.
Victor Esquinas Torres was the referee in 2006 when Barcelona player Samuel Eto’o threatened to walk off the pitch after being racially abused.
He told Radio Marca on Monday that guidelines to referees that they should stop the game and ask for an announcement to be made are unchanged from his time officiating. He said: ‘It has been shown that this is not enough because you are giving a second chance to the culprits.’
Thibaut Courtois and Carlo Ancelotti have both said Madrid should have walked off the pitch and Xavi added on Monday: ‘If there’s an insult it should be a case of stop they game and we all go home,’
The authorities now need to follow this lead. More procrastination will surely see Vinicius walk away, probably to English football where there is zero tolerance for the stadium being racist.
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