At 23, Vinicius Jr is now a Real Madrid executive. On and off the field. But the Brazilian is also gaining depth in his fights, he who is one of those who do not hesitate to raise their voice about the racism that is unfortunately all too present in the stadiums, in Spain in particular. For France Footballthe former Flamengo winger spoke out, returning to the racist chants against him in Valencia on May 21. “It happened a lot of times, and in Valencia in a blatant and big way. I felt a lot of sadness. If I’m on the ground, it’s to make people happy. And a group, which I know is a minority, can affect you to the point of no longer thinking about playing”explains Vinicius Jr.
The native of São Gonçalo, however, continues to alert La Liga. In vain. “Because what happened in Valencia was on the 35th day, but in all the away matches played before this one, there were episodes of racism. They never did anything. I had already spoken with La Liga to say that this had to change. They didn’t listen to me. They listened to me from the moment the whole world started talking about Spain. That made them react. Personally, I know that I am not going to change history, that I am not going to make Spain a country without racists, nor the whole world. But I know I can change some things. So that those who arrive in the next few years don’t experience this, so that the children can have peace of mind in the future. For them, I will do everything I can.” Vinicius Jr finally details:“If I face racism alone, the system will easily crush me. When we are all together, when important people take up the subject, like the president of Brazil (Lula, historical figure of the Brazilian left), like the president of UEFA, like Kylian (Mbappé), like Neymar, great players, like Rio Ferdinand, who always writes to me and who is with me in this fight, that necessarily has more weight. What is certain is that the fight against racism is far from over. As a reminder, an 8-year-old girl wearing a Vinicius jersey was the victim of racist insults and threats during Atlético-Real (3-1) on September 24.
