Vinicius Jr was brought to tears on Sunday after suffering racist abuse while playing for Real Madrid. The Madrid winger was subjected to racism from a section of Valencia reporters at the Mestalla and was then sent off by the referee for putting his hand in the face of Valencia’s Hugo Duro. This is not the first time Vinicius has had to deal with racism playing in La Liga, and La Liga’s president Javier Tebas was critical of Vinicius’ response to the racism. However, this has been condemned and Real Madrid have since filed a hate crime complaint to the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office for the abuse in Valencia. Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti have both expressed their outrage at the racism, with Klopp saying there is “nothing in the world that could justify that” and Ancelotti saying “there’s something wrong with this league”. Vinicius himself put out a strongly-worded statement saying “Racism is normal in La Liga” and that “the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists”. If La Liga and the Spanish authorities do not take action against racism, it could put players off wanting to join the league. It is clear that there is no excuse for racism and it must be addressed.
