In 2030, after a stopover across the Atlantic, in the United States, Mexico and Canada, the Football World Cup will return to the old continent, in Spain and Portugal, in association with Morocco. A joyful prospect that Vinicius Jr. contrasts with a serious problem, recurrent in Spanish football: the racism that he can personally be the object of on the different pitches of Liga.
” If the racism situation in Spain does not change before 2030, the World Cup will have to be movedthe Real Madrid striker said in an interview with CNN.
Until 2030, we have a lot of room for change. So I hope that Spain will change and understand how serious it is to insult someone because of the colour of their skin, because if in 2030 things don’t change, I think we’ll have to change places. If a player doesn’t feel comfortable and doesn’t feel safe playing in a country where he can be a victim of racism, it’s a bit complicated…
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Apologies demanded
These remarks did not please the mayor of the city of Madrid, José Luis Martinez-Almeida, who responded in the media on Wednesday. Being an extraordinary football player doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes and this time he was wrong.judge at Chiringuito the first magistrate of the Spanish capital. Vinicius has the vast majority of Spanish society on his side to fight racism, but we cannot support him when he calls almost all of Spanish society, and especially Madrid society, racist. I cannot accept that. »
And to add, demanding an apology from the Brazilian international: ” We are all aware that there are racist episodes in society and that we must work hard to eliminate these racist episodes. But it is deeply unfair for Spain, and in particular for Madrid, to say that we are a racist society and that, moreover, this jeopardizes the organization of the 2030 World Cup. I ask you to rectify this. He must rectify, apologise. Know that when there is a racist episode, you will have us all on your side, but you will not have us all on your side when you say that we are racist. Because that is not true. When you make a mistake, you must correct it. »
