How the Vinicius affair cracked the leaden screed that weighs on racism in Spanish football

Vinicius Junior didn’t just hear. He’s seen it all too. On the lawn of the Mestalla stadium, Sunday, May 21, “Vini” suddenly stopped running to point the finger at the Valencia supporter, author according to him of racist insults against him. The supporter ? Not quite. Two other videos show an entire grandstand, i.e. several dozen people, treating in chorus and in rhythm the Brazilian player of “mono” (“monkey”).

Since his arrival in the Spanish championship five years ago, the trips during which the footballer has not been the target of racist insults can be counted on the fingers of one hand. “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga”denounced Vinicius Junior on his Instagram account after the meeting.

Except that this time, the case found a global echo. As a sign of solidarity, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro was plunged into darkness for an hour on Monday evening. Vinicius Junior was still in the Valencia locker room when Brazilian President Lula said these few words on the sidelines of the G7 in Japan: “We cannot allow fascism and racism to take hold in football stadiums.”

Ten incidents targeting Vinicius since 2021

Only since 2021, the sports daily AS (link in Spanish) counted ten incidents explicitly targeting the Seleçao striker. At the end of January, a mannequin bearing the image of the player was hanged from a bridge in Madrid, before the derby against Atlético. Should we see a link with what happened on Sunday in Valencia? In any case, the police announced, Tuesday, May 23, the arrest of four people as part of this investigation. After the events of Sunday, theThe Valence prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for “hate crime” and three young people have been arrested. “The investigation continues to identify other alleged perpetrators” racial slurs, police said.

It’s that, IUntil then, La Liga seem to be dragging their feet to act. If she claims to have transmitted eight complaints this season for incidents suffered by Vinicius, none has yet resulted in a disciplinary sanction, not even a partial closure of the stands. The only measures actually came from clubs, such as Valladolid or Mallorca, which confiscated subscriptions from certain supporters (for a specific period).

The habit of kicking

These incidents are symptomatic of a system to which Spain has long turned a blind eye. In this regard, the record of Spanish football is particularly loaded. Some episodes have sparked continental outrage – black English players being jeered at during a friendly in 2004, coach Luis Aragonés motivating one of his players by insulting Thierry Henry, then club-mate Barca full-back Dani Alves eating a banana thrown from the stands… But they are only the tip of the iceberg. Alves recognized this even after this famous incident: “I’ve been playing in Spain for eleven years and for eleven it’s been the same.”

Unrolling the long list of demonstrations of racism would not make much sense. Go back on the defense strategies of the offending people much more. Sergio Busquets, the legendary midfielder of Barça, accused of having treated Marcelo, side of Real, of “monkey” in 2011 ? We heard badly, assures the Catalan club quoted by El Mundo (link in Spanish) : it was not “mono, mono” (“monkey”) but “mucho morro” (“you are swollen”). In 2018, Jefferson Lerma complains to the referee about racist insults? “He told me he was fed up with the players complaining”tells the former Levante player to the newspaper AS. “The best thing to do is ignore them and keep playing”wanted to believe, fatalistic, Jonathan Mensah, not spared during his time with the Granada club, in The Athletic. Costa Rican Paulo Wanchope was even assaulted by ultras of his propre-clubMálaga, during training, relates The Guardian : “I went to the one who had a megaphone to repeat it to my face.” It took the intervention of his teammates and the police to prevent things from degenerating.

The excuse of folklore

Again ? Some Valencian reporters assured that an entire stadium treating the unfortunate Vinicius as a monkey was folklore… Almost twenty years earlier, Juan Castro, of the sports daily brandseriously assured the Guardian that “the monkey cries have no racist character. It’s a joke.” However, they are never addressed to white players. Also in 2004, Atletico Madrid supporters who treated the Madrid side Roberto Carlos as a monkey were only fined 500 euros… A “folkloric” problem, folkloric fine, we have to believe…

Could Sunday’s events mark a turning point? The day after the famous match, on Monday, the most Spanish media called for stronger action. “It’s not enough not to be racist, you have to be anti-racist”wrote in white letters on a black background the sports newspaper brandin a forum in one of its edition. “Basta ya” (“that’s enough”), titled for his part El Mundo Deportivo.

“Condemnation is not enough”added Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to the press on Tuesday. “Institutions have an opportunity now to take drastic measures on this important subject”insisted the Italian technician.

In a press release, the Spanish government announced that it would offer the Federation as well as La Liga a “awareness campaign” for supporters, with “one-off actions” to fight against “the scourge of racism”. “It must be said clearly that we are anti-racist: Spain fights this behavior, condemns it and does everything to eradicate it”insisted, after the Council of Ministers, the spokesperson for the left-wing government, Isabel Rodriguez.