The manager of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti has acknowledged that there is a racism issue with sport in Spain as he was trying to shield his forward man Vinicius Junior.
Italian manager, Don Carlo came to the defense of his player in light of the trolls, bants and inflammatory remarks that he has gotten recently.
The racial attacks faced against Real Mallorca by Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Junior apparently was spited with racial comments from supporters of Real Mallorca, this occurrence is the latest in the midst of many racial slurs that has been poked at the tricky white angel.
Fans of Mallorca were heard calling Vinicius Junior a monkey in a video released by the streaming company Dazn on social media.
The Brazilian was in the face of constant tackles with Vinicius being fouled 10 times, the highest amount by any footballer in the 2022/23 La Liga season.
In another instance, fans of direct city rivals Atlético Madrid, did an effigy of the youngster and set it hanging from a motorway overpass in the build up to a Copa Del Ray clash against Real Madrid.
Real Madrid won the encounter by 3-1 with Vinicius Junior playing a domineering role in securing that victory.
Many times, the primary governing body of football in Spain, the La Liga have come out to state they are doing their own findings on the racial slurs targeted at Vinicius Junior.
But no individual has been punished as of now, with the racial onslaught still piling up against the 22-year-old Brazilian winger.
Vinicius Junior is obviously not happy about the situation, and he has emphatically claimed that La Liga are not doing their needed duty to solve the problem of racism in Spain.
In preparation for the game against Al Ahly on Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged that there is certainly a problem as regards racism in the entire Spanish footballing system.
Ancelotti’s words on the saga
Carlo Ancelotti said: “The question I ask is this: What is the problem?
“Vinicius? Vinicius’ teammates? What’s the problem? To defend himself? What does Vinicius have to defend himself against? What do his teammates have to defend themselves against? I don’t know.
“It seems like the problem is Vinicius, but the problem is what happens around him. Period.
Carlo Ancelotti further added:
“It is a problem of Spanish football. I am a part of Spanish football and I think it’s a problem that we have to solve. Because it seems that Vinicius is the culprit, but he is the victim of something that I don’t understand.”
Notable times Vinicius Junior has been racially abused
There has been several notable graven instances of racism in the La Liga, most especially with Vinicius Junior being the primary target in recent time.
The Real Madrid forward man has faced at least three notable instances of racial attacks on his personality prior to this latest incident against Mallorca.
The Barcelona incidence
It first occurred at the Nou Camp against FC Barcelona, late 2021, where he was subjected to racial insults from fans of the Blaugrana side.
La Liga in customary fashion put out a statement on the incidence but still, it looks like it’s been all mere words but no action to follow it up.
The statement from La Liga:
“Given the events that occurred during the game at the Camp Nou on Sunday,” the statement began, “in which a home fan abused Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr with racist insults, LaLiga will proceed to report said events to the prosecutor’s office of Barcelona.”
The Atlético Madrid incidence
Additionally, There was another incidence of racism against Vinicius Junior which occurred before a derby match against Atlético Madrid in September, 2022.
Atletico Madrid came out to condemn the action but it more of a slap on the wrist as it hasn’t deterred irresponsible fans from continuing in their ill-mannered activities.
The colchoneros comment came after hundreds of Atletico supporters were heard singing, “Vinicius, you are a monkey, you are monkey” in a video released on social media in the build-up to the derby encounter which Real Madrid eventually won by 2-1.
The Real Valladolid incidence
Furthermore, Racism roared its ugly head again in Real Madrid’s final game of 2022 against Real Valladolid in December.
After Vinicius was substituted against Valladolid, video footages surfaced on social media showing fans hurling abuses and throwing objects at the Brazilian.
La Liga released a statement following the incident but it was another case of more words, less action being laid bare.
“A criminal charge for hate crimes has been filed with the Valladolid Magistrates’ Courts, supported by audiovisual evidence gathered in the investigation carried out through images and audio clips published on open sources,” a statement from La Liga read.
The statement added that La Liga would rapidly move to “eradicate any kind of violence, racism or xenophobia inside and outside stadiums”.
“The number of La Liga integrity officers present at matches where there is a risk of racist insults will be increased, in order to maximise detection and identification of this type of behaviour, which has no place in sport”, the league body added.
“Furthermore, in stadiums where there is considered to be a risk of possible racist behaviour in the stands, messages will be broadcast over the public address system and advertising hoardings surrounding the pitch to combat and condemn racism.”
Hopefully, the governing body of football in Spain backs up its words with proper action that would curb racism in Spanish football.
