“This is not football, this is inhuman”: Vinicius Jr. After compiling racial slurs against him, Vincent Kompany expresses his support Head of the Department

It was just heavenly. Or disgusting – perhaps this would be more appropriate as an adjective. Vinicius Junior It was Mestalla’s only red card on Sunday after giving Valencia striker Hugo Duro a powerful flick. A gesture that does not belong, yet, but was human: Vinicius Jr. Not only was he put in a chokehold by Duro, but Valencia fans also called him “monkey” on more than one occasion, even upon the arrival of the Real Madrid team bus, according to images circulated on social media.

Vinicius himself pointed out two fans after 70 minutes who were guilty of this. Referee Ricardo de Burgos stopped the match for ten minutes and ordered the spokesman to call the fans to ask for the order. But De Burgos did not stop the match completely. As a result, in a new incident, Vinicius was completely boiled away.

Speaking to the press, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti did not mince words. “The whole stadium shouted ‘monkey’ when Vinny was left out. I didn’t know him that bad. It’s unacceptable. La Liga has a problem, and it’s not Vinicius – he’s the victim. But you can’t play football like that and I’m not saying that because we lost. We’re in a year 2023 – Racism should not exist.”

Since October 2021, the 22-year-old Brazilian has already suffered racism on and around the pitch ten times. Every time the same swear word could be heard, in one instance a dummy was hung from the bridge, along with Vinicius Jr.’s shirt and shirt. Just like now, this always resulted in a complaint to the Spanish court. Such incidents fall under the heading of “hate crimes” and are punishable under Spanish law.

In practice, this rarely leads to prosecution or conviction. For example, the Madrid public prosecutor believed that chants such as “You’re a monkey, Vinicius” during the derby against Atlético in September 2022 fit in the context of other “hateful and disrespectful” chants and lasted only “a few seconds” – he dismissed the case, as did the office Mallorca Attorney General in March 2022: “Words and sounds are typical of bad and reprehensible behavior but do not appear to fall under the rules of criminal law here.” The Barcelona Public Prosecutor’s Office filed a complaint in October 2021 because they could not identify the culprits.

Understandably, Vinicius Jr. on Instagram: “It wasn’t the first, second or even third time. Racism is normal in La Liga. (…) The league that used to belong to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi, today belongs to the racist. I’m sorry for those Spaniards who disagree, but in Brazil, Spain is known as the country of racists.”

La Liga president Javier Tebas could not have known better than to tap the young Brazilian’s toes. “We tried to explain to you what La Liga can do in the event of racist incidents, but you twice failed to show up at the agreed time. Before you insult and criticize La Liga, you should be better informed.” But Vinicius did not let himself lecture yesterday: “Once again, the president of La Liga is attacking me, not the racists. (…) I want to see the actions and the penalties.” A call that even received support from Brazilian President Lula.

There was a light on the Spanish Football Federation. Federal President Luis Rubiales yesterday dismissed Tebas’ comments as “irresponsible behaviour” and said it was important to realize “that there is a serious problem in this country. This affects clubs, fans and even a whole country. Perhaps Vinicius is more right than we think: we all need Do more in the fight against racism.

Ancelotti already had a suggestion: “In the past, nothing was done about complaints. The solution? Stop the game, because it can’t go on like this. Nobody suffers more mistakes and insults than Vinicius. According to protocol, the referee must first warn Fans then act if they repeat that behavior. But he didn’t do that on Sunday.”

Thibaut Courtois said he heard his supporters making monkey noises just 20 minutes later. “They should point the cameras at these people so you can hear the disgusting things they shout sometimes. If Vinnie didn’t feel like playing anymore, I would have left the field with him because you couldn’t stand such things.”

look. The Brazilian president encourages Vinicius: “It’s not possible.”

Real Madrid also condemns the incident with a statement on their website:

Valencia will impose a life ban on racist fans: