The game between Real Madrid and Valencia ended in a defeat for the Galacticos by a goal to nil. However, it is not something that happened to the ball that is making headlines. Real’s star forward Vinicius Jr. once again faced racial abuse during the game that made him and his teammates furious. Vinicius has now launched a scathing attack on the entire Spanish league, dubbing it a league of racists. As support continues to pour in for him, equality and inclusivity advocate, Lewis Hamilton joins the fight.
Vinicius heard some racist chants against him while playing from a section of the spectators. He angrily confronted them by arguing while other Madrid players joined him. Soon, Valencia players came forward to calm things down. However, tempers had already flared between the two sides and it resulted in an altercation between Vinicius and Valencia’s goalkeeper, Giorgi Mamardashvili. While Mamardashvili tried to choke Vinicius while the Brazilian pushed the goalkeeper in the face. Initially, both players got a yellow card, but after checking on the screen, the referee sent both players off after brandishing a red card.
Lewis Hamilton comes to Vinicius Jr.’s support
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Hamilton has never shied away from speaking against racial discrimination. Knowing his stature in F1, he uses the platform to forward his views of him. Earlier this year in March, a Brazilian court held former F1 champion Nelson Piquet guilty of using racially charged language against Hamilton and slapped him with a $1.9 million fine. The Briton lauded the court’s decision back then. As players like Kylian Mbappe came to Vini’s support, Hamilton has become the latest to join him.
What is more enraging is the fact that a similar incident happened just last month with Romelu Lukaku while playing against Juventus. Back then, Vinicius stood with Lukaku and now, he is a victim of the shameful act.
Hamilton expressed his support through an Instagram Story. He posted a picture of Vinicius and wrote, “Standing with you” and tagged him in the post.
Vinicius launched an attack on the league and its management post-match on Twitter. He, as per Al Jazeera, wrote, “It wasn’t the first time or the second or the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, as does the federation, and the opponents encourage it.”
“The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi today belongs to the racists,” he added. “A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love but which accepted to export to the world the image of a racist country. I am sorry for those Spaniards who disagree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists .”
He talked about staying strong and fighting “against the racists”. The 22-year-old has garnered support from all walks of life as the issue becomes bigger with each passing hour.
Vinicius gets coach Carlo Ancelotti’s full support
The fact that the game was allowed to continue following the incident with the racist fans is mind-boggling. Not only should the referees and the federation have stopped the game but also escorted the rowdy members of the crowd out of the stadium. However, the game was allowed to continue, and that resulted in both teams’ players coming together on multiple occasions.
Não foi a primeira vez, nem a segunda e nem a terceira. O racismo é o normal na La Liga. A competição acha normal, a Federação também e os adversários incentivam. Lamento muito. O campeonato que já foi de Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano e Messi hoje é dos racistas. Uma nação…
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) May 21, 2023
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Carlo Ancelotti said, “What happened today shouldn’t happen.”
Ancelotti admitted to contemplating pulling Vini out of the game but confessed that is something that he shouldn’t have to do. “When a stadium yells ‘monkey’ to a player, and the coach considers taking him out of the field because of that, it means that there is something bad in this league,” he added.
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Vini’s teammates stood behind him during the game and now support is arriving from athletes of other sports. Do you think the La Liga management will now take this issue seriously?