Vinicius Jr targeted by racist insults in Valencia

BETTING À DAY

It is too common for racialized soccer players to be targeted by opposing fans. It happened again on Sunday when Vinicius Jr was taken down at Valencia. 

In a 1-0 loss to Real Madrid, the Brazilian striker was targeted time and time again by the Valencian supporters who descended into racism.

He was initially called an idiot, which created a crowd and caused a rather long interruption of the match. He was also called a monkey by at least one supporter.

But in an emotional outburst after the match, his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, claimed that “it was the whole stadium calling a player a monkey.”

“There is no need for a coach to consider withdrawing his player for this reason, I told him he was not the culprit, but the victim .

“We have a problem because in my eyes Vinicius is the strongest player in the world. La Liga has a problem and in a situation like that, we have to stop the game,” Ancelotti insisted.

Controversy

The situation is fueling controversy in Spain. In the Valencian camp, Ancelotti is being asked to apologize for claiming that his player was always being insulted in this stadium.

“The Valencian public is exemplary,” said local head coach Ruben Bajara. Some of Vinicius' actions were also reprehensible,” he said, implying that the Brazilian had provoked the crowd.

But the Valencian daily Super Deporte added a layer of it on Monday with a front page headlined “Ancelotti does not lie, Vinicius does not provoke”.

What's more, the newspaper reports that around 100 supporters were outside the stadium when the Real Madrid bus arrived on Sunday and chanted 'Vinicius, you're a monkey'. p>

Attitude

Some of the Spanish fans claim that Vinicius is the architect of his own misfortune by his temper gestures, his constant complaints to the referee and his gestures of provocation.

However, he responded to this thesis by posting on his social networks a montage of all the racist insults he has suffered over the past two years.

On Monday, Valence CF showed openness in assuring that he would ban for life any supporters found guilty of racist behavior towards Vinicius.

It appears that the Spanish police have already identified at least one individual and that others could follow. Real Madrid has filed a hate crime complaint. The Association of Spanish Professional Footballers and the Movement Against Intolerance have also filed a joint complaint.

A problem

The situation illustrates a problem of background that is undermining Spanish soccer and the Spanish Football Federation has recognized this in a crisis press conference.

“There is a problem of behavior, education and racism that taints all Spanish football and an entire country”, mentioned the president of the Federation Luis Rubiales.

The president of the Movement against Intolerance, Esteban Ibarra, for his part deplored the inaction of the competent authorities .

“Nobody acts, he laments. Often, there are no sanctions or they are not applied and the cases are unfinished, supposedly for lack of evidence or because they cannot identify the individuals. The reality is that since COVID, racist behavior has increased in football. The authorities are ineffective because they never apply the law rigorously.”