Horrific treatment of Vinícius Júnior shows Spanish football still has big racism problem
Real Madrid’s mid-season trip to Morocco for the FIFA Club World Cup must have come as something of a relief for Vinícius Júnior. Although there will be no romantic reunion with his former club Flamengo in the final this Saturday after the Rio oufit lost to Saudi side Al-Hilal, at least the brilliant Brazilian winger has been able to escape the vile racial abuse aimed at him in LaLiga recently. Soon he will be back in Spain, though, and it will all start up again.
Last Sunday in Mallorca, the home side fouled Real Madrid’s players 29 times across 90 minutes in their 1-0 win over Los Blancos at Son Moix. That was a LaLiga record this season and 10 of those were fouls were on Vinícius. It was the most received by a Madrid player since Isco in 2013.
It is nothing new this season. Opponents are recognising that, if you stop Vinícius, you can halt Madrid. So he is often being targeted by brutal challenges and teams have committed more men to crowding out the 22-year-old. Some, like Gabriel Paulista’s lunge in Real’s 2-0 win over Valencia recently which led to a straight red card and widespread condemnation for the defender, have been punished. Others have not.
But behind all that, there is something much more sinister going on. In Mallorca, fans were caught on camera calling Vinícius a monkey during their team’s 1-0 win. And just over a week earlier, Atlético ultras hung an effigy from a bridge in the city ahead of the Madrid derby. The doll was wearing a Real Madrid shirt with Vinícius’ name and number on the back. Above it, a banner read: “Madrid hates Real.”
Spanish police revealed they have opened an investigation into a “possible hate crime”, while LaLiga said it “strongly condemns acts of hatred and intimidation against Vinícius Jr.”
LaLiga went on to say it would be “seeking convictions for those responsible and requesting the most severe sentences.” But these are not isolated incidents. Vinícius is racially abused every time he visits an away ground in Spain. Sometimes it is reported, on other occasions it is not.
Back in September, videos emerged of Atlético fans screaming “Vinícius is a monkey” ahead of the Madrid derby in a chant which used to be aimed at another Brazilian at Real: Marcelo. It continued inside the stadium and throughout the game. And at Valladolid in December, the 22-year-old was subjected to similar abuse. In a recent statement, Valladolid said they had handed bans to 10 season-ticket holders, but any further punishment will be down to the authorities.
That is where things appear more complicated. Of six complaints made by LaLiga, three were dismissed, while two more are still being processed. “We are doing what the law allows us to do,” Spain's Sports Council (CSD) president Jose Manuel Franco said. Not nearly enough, quite clearly.
Meanwhile, an argument persists that this is all somehow Vinícius’ fault. Yes, he can be provocative: at 22 he is naïve and sometimes his actions on the pitch rile up opponents. But that is absolutely no excuse for fans to resort to racist chants, nor for rival players to attack him with dangerous intent.
The media have not helped, either. In questions to Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, journalists have hinted that he is the problem. “There is always something with Vinícius…” one said recently after Real’s win at Villarreal. And controversial Spanish sports show El Chiringuito last year dedicated a large segment to discussing the Brazilian’s dance moves when celebrating his goals.
During that debate, the president of Spanish football agents, Pedro Bravo, used the expression “hacer el mono” (loosely “to monkey around”) when calling for the Brazilian to “respect his opponents” on the pitch and suggested he should “go to a sambadrome” if he wants to dance. El Chiringuito insist is was not meant as a racial slur, but it was an unfortunate choice of words at best and clearly his rant contained racial and zenophobic undertones.
After that, Vinícius posted a video on his social media channels in which he condemned the discrimination and vowed to keep on dancing. He was supported by Real Madrid, by Ancelotti and his team-mates, and by a number of high-profile footballers past and present, including Neymar, Richarlison and the late Pelé.
Yet the problem is showing no signs of going away. And on Thursday, Vinícius spoke out on Twitter after Brazilian basketball player Yago dos Santos was subjected to racial abuse during his team's defeat at Joventut Badalona on Tuesday.
“Let's start to punish those people or we'll go back to how it was before,” Vinicius wrote in response to this latest racist incident in Spain. “But as long as we don't do anything, we'll continue fighting for ourselves.”
This talented young man has been left alone for too long in this battle. He, along with every footballer of colour in Spain, deserves better. It is time for a serious crackdown on racism in Spanish football, for LaLiga to tackle the problem from the top and for the authorities to take the strongest actions possible in order to eradicate this sickening behaviour once and for all. Enough is enough.