Football

Vini Junior vows bigger Real Madrid reaction if he sees more racist abuse: 'Everyone has to leave the field'

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2m ago

Aug 29, 2024 / 1731 Views

Evan Walker

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior said he and his teammates will walk off the field if he receives racist abuse from opposition fans again, believing that the statement will force real change after facing discriminatory treatment on multiple occasions in Spain.

Vinicius said the repeated instances of racism have forced more conversations in the locker room on their response, eventually opting to take collective action if need be.

"In the club, we talk about it more often," Vinicius said in a recent interview with CNN. "Not just me, but all [the] players said that if that happens, the next time everyone has to leave the field, so that all of those people who insulted us have to pay a much bigger penalty."

In recent years, Vinicius has been on the receiving end of racist abuse from fans of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Real Betis, Mallorca, Real Valladolid, Osasuna and Pamplona. Most notably, the Brazil international faced discriminatory insults at Valencia in May 2023, when the referee briefly halted the game in accordance with La Liga's anti-racism policy. Three fans were detained immediately and pled guilty in June 2024 to racially abusing Vinicius, marking a first-of-its-kind conviction of a racism-related case in Spain.

Vinicius said the team's decision to jointly leave the field in the future stems from their takeaways following the event in Valencia.

"In the case of what happened in Valencia, after the game -- after we thought about it -- everyone said that the right thing to do is to leave the field, but because you are there defending a team, we know that not everyone in the stadium is racist and were just there to watch the game," Vinicius said. "It's always very difficult to end a game, but with everything that's been happening, that each time is getting worse, we do need to leave the field so things can change as soon as possible."

Many have criticized La Liga, as well as other senior officials in soccer and Spain's government, for failing to adequately punish perPetrators of discriminatory events in the sport. Most soccer comPetitions follow FIFA's three-step protocol, which allows referees to first stop a match, then suspend and finally abandon it upon noticing discriminatory abuse. Despite the pervasiveness of discrimination in the Game, referees rarely motion to abandon Games and the system in place often leaves players feeling unempowered while receiving abuse.

La Liga has a mechanism for fans to report discriminatory abuse but in the wake of the incident at Valencia, Spain's top flight has asked the government to change its laws to both prosecute more cases as well as allow the league more freedom to issue punishments. As it stands, La Liga complies evidence and shares it with local hate crime prosecutors, but many have opted not to pursue the cases.

Vinicius, though, believes the conviction of the Valencia fans is a step in the right direction and says he has already noticed attitudes shifting in Spain.

"Today I already see and feel the difference in Spain," he said. "Today -- maybe [some fans] are still racists -- but nowadays they are afraid to express themselves in the football field, and in places where there are a lot of cameras. And with that we will reduce racism, little by little. Of course, we won't be able to end it, but I'm already happy that I'm being able to change Spain's mindset."