Football: Citing racism in sport, Brazilian star Vinicius Junior cries
New Delhi, March 26: Real Madrid’s Brazilian player Vinicius Junior cried at a press conference on Monday while narrating his experience about prevailing racism in football.
Asked about racism in football ahead of a friendly match between Brazil and Spain, he broke into tears, stating that racism in Spain is making him feel less motivated and he was losing the desire to play football.
“I just want to play football but it’s hard to move forward… I feel less and less like playing (due to the racist abuse),” Vinicius said.
Asked if he thought about leaving Spain, he said: “It never crossed my mind (to leave Spain) because if I leave Spain I give the racists what they want. I will stay because that is the way racists can continue to see my face more and more.”
“The lack of punishment is very frustrating, if we start punishing these people, not only they will change their thinking but they will be afraid to speak out, whether it’s in the stadium, where there are cameras…put fear into those people,” Vinicius added.
The 23-year-old, in the 2023 season alone, faced ten serious racism abuses as reported to Laliga prosecutors. The infamous racism chant against Vinicius happened in May 2023 in the game of Real Madrid FC versus Valencia FC.
Seven racists were arrested after Vinicius’ statement that ‘racism is normal in La Liga.’
