Victim on several occasions of racist insults in Spain, the Real Madrid player spoke at length in the columns of France Football on Friday.
In a long interview for the magazine France Football [article payant], Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior has spoken out about his fight against racism. Victim of repeated insults in Spanish stadiums, the Brazilian notably returned to the episode in Valencia, on May 21, when he heard an opposing supporter call him a “mono” (monkey in Spanish), then was expelled after a scuffle.
He had very little taste of the reaction of La Liga. “They never did anything. I had already spoken with La Liga to say that this had to change. They didn’t listen to me. They listened to me from the moment the whole world started talking from Spain”, he regretted. At the time, the Spanish championship responded vehemently, upset at being directly targeted by the Brazilian in an Instagram story: “With my expulsion, the racists have won. It’s not football, it’s La Liga”.
“I’m not going to change history.”
“We wanted to explain to you what La Liga is doing to act against racism, but you did not show up for any scheduled meeting. Before criticizing and insulting La Liga, you need to inform yourself.” Javier Tebas, the boss of Spanish football, replied. At the same time, a wave of support carried the Brazilian. His coach Carlo Ancelotti himself dared to assert that “Lhe Liga had a problem with racism. And the problem isn’t Vinicius. He is the victim.”
“Everyone sends you messages when something happens, but as soon as it’s over, they don’t talk to you anymore. But I had support! From the club, of course, and also from the players, especially those who have already suffered these things”traced Vinicius, who explained that he discussed it regularly with Achraf Hakimi, Kylian Mbappé, Raphaël Varane, Romelu Lukaku and even Rio Ferdinand.
The Brazilian knows that he “won’t change history”neither “make Spain a country without racists”but knows that his voice “weighs”. He wants to keep this fight going “juntil things change.”. “I want my little brother not to experience what I experienced (…) that no one goes through these moments. It’s so sad. I want that one day, I will no longer need to talk about that for thirty minutes in an interview”, he notably confided.