Real Madrid’s players have organized a solidarity campaign for Vinicius Junior following his recent racist attack.
Real won 2-1 at home against Rayo Vallecano in the 36th round of the 2022/23 La Liga season at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, on Friday (Sept. 25). With the three points, Real improved to 23 wins, five draws and eight defeats (74 points), dropping Atletico Madrid to third place and reclaiming second place.
On the day, the Real players dedicated an emotional campaign to Vinicius, a recent victim of racism. Before kickoff, the team wore Vinicius’ jersey, VINI JR 20, as a group.
They then joined the Rayo players to show their solidarity with Vinicius in a campaign against racism, holding a banner that read “Racism, it must disappear from soccer”.
The crowd joined in with Vinicius. They gave him a standing ovation in the 20th minute of the first half in honor of his number 20 shirt. Vinicius, who was watching the game from the stands, waved and thanked the crowd for their support.
After the game, Real reiterated their commitment to Vinicius by posting a photo of the squad wearing his jersey with the caption “We are all Vinicius”.
“I love you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he wrote on social media, thanking everyone for their support.
Vinicius was reduced to tears after being racially abused by opposing fans in Valencia in the previous round.
The Valencia crowd chanted “monkey” at him, which enraged him and led to a confrontation in the stands. The referee intervened to calm him down. Valencia captain Jose Gaya also tried to calm them down.
However, the crowd became even more abusive and even threw foreign objects onto the pitch. Unable to take the insults, Vinicius broke down in tears.
“This is not yesterday or today. The league where Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi once played is in the hands of racists,” he said, adding, “I will suffer this pain for the next generation, I will fight to the end.”
It wasn’t just Real who showed their support for Vinicius. Soccer figures such as England legendary defender Rio Ferdinand and Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe rallied behind Vinicius, while Brazil’s president himself spoke out against racism.
Today, the three people who allegedly racially abused Vinicius have been identified and banned from stadiums.
However, the hateful comments did not go unnoticed, and later that day, it was revealed that someone had ripped the face off a poster of Vinicius on the outside wall of the Santiago Bernabeu, shocking the world of soccer once again. 스포츠토토