Affected by countless racist attacks against him, Vinicius Jr. once again addressed the issue of racism in LaLiga stadiums ahead of the 2024/25 season.
In an interview with CNN, the Brazilian star from Real Madrid stated that he and his teammates are preparing to take drastic measures in response to future incidents, all in order to impose greater penalties on fans who attend matches with the intent to utter racist insults.
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The measure Vini and Real Madrid will take against racism
Caught in various scenarios that have put him in the crosshairs of several fans who have insulted him racially, Vinicius stated that he does not rule out leaving the field if this happens again:
“People are talking about it more often at the club (about racism),” he said. “Not just me, but also the players who have told me that if it happens again, next time we all have to leave the field, so that those who insult us are punished much more.”
“In the case of what happened in Valencia, we talked after the match and everyone said that the right thing would be to leave the field, but since you are there, defending your team, we didn’t do it. We know that not everyone is racist in the stadium; many people are there just to watch the match,” he stated.
Despite being somewhat pessimistic about the possibility of this happening again, Vinicius affirmed that things are pointing to change in Spain and that he already notices a difference:
“It’s very difficult to end a match by leaving the field, but with everything that’s happening and getting worse, we feel that we have to leave the field to bring about a definitive change as soon as possible. Today, I can already see and feel a difference in Spain. Nowadays, maybe some fans are still racist, but now they are afraid to express it in football stadiums or in places where there are cameras,” he assured.
In a hopeful tone, the Brazilian stated that he hopes this continues to decrease in Spanish football:
“In this way, we will reduce racism, little by little, of course. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to eliminate the problem, but I will be happy if I manage to change a bit the way racism is perceived in Spain,” concluded the Brazilian footballer.
