😬 Should Vinicius Jr Leave Real Madrid because of the constant Racist Abuse?

[Goodness]

Vinicius Jr has been in the eye of the storm all season, as opposition fans clearly don’t like the Real Madrid winger. And it looked like things might have reached a boiling point away at Valencia and it is time to take action.

They have also led to rumours that Vinicius could look for a way out of Real Madrid in the near future, if things do not change quickly. And to be honest, not many fans would blame him.

Will leaving Spain to play football somewhere else be the best decision for Vinicius right now? Share your thoughts

[Animesh]

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday that FIFA’s racism protocol in football was “obsolete” after Valencia fans abused Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior.

The 22-year-old forward suffered vile racist taunts at Mestalla on Sunday in La Liga, with three fans arrested by Spanish police on Tuesday.

Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea activated the racism protocol after Vinicius squared off with fans, singling out one whom he saw abuse him.

FIFA’s three-step process involves the match being paused until a stadium announcement is made asking for racist abuse to stop, which happened at Mestalla.

The second step, after any further abuse, is to temporarily take players off the pitch and the third step, if it continues, is to abandon the game and give three points to the opposition.

“The protocol is obsolete,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“The protocol had to be applied when the team bus reached the stadium because the insults started there.

“Two hours before the game, and it was not an isolated case – someone from Valencia said it was – sure, it was not 46,000 people but it was not one or two.”

Video emerged Monday of Valencia fans chanting “Vinicius, you are a monkey,” when Real Madrid arrived at Mestalla.

“The protocol has to start there,” continued Ancelotti.

“If you start the protocol in the 70th minute, you have made a mistake.

“It has to start two hours before the game, and then during the game. It’s obsolete, yes.”

[Saket]

Vinicius Jr said Spain was viewed as a “racist country” in a statement he made on Instagram late on Sunday, which Ancelotti disagreed with, but he called for drastic action to combat racism.

“Spain is not racist, I have to say that too, but there is racism in Spain, like in other places and that has to end,” Ancelotti said.

“It’s a moment to take drastic measures. Institutions have chances, above all now, to take radical measures on this important subject.”

[Jay]

I don’t think leaving Spain is the best decision for Vinicius Jr. Unfortunately, due to these incidents he will always be a soft target wherever he moves.

Racism is a global and pervasive issue. I think he should stay and campaign for stricter laws and work for tougher action against social platforms who are not doing enough to curtail racism and hatred spewed online.

We had seen Henderson, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and more players in English Football become victims of discriminatory abuse in 2021. Not much was done by the social platforms after that wave. Time to hold the associations, country legislative systems, clubs and social platforms accountable for racism and abuse of people.

@Jay

Death threats, racist abuse, sexist slurs and public humiliation. Football is meant to unite everyone irrespective of color but seems deeply rooted racism is perpetrating the spirit of the game.

English football has reached a breaking point with players, coaches, referees and officials aghast at the ongoing proliferation of hate aimed at them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

As a measure of protest, English football has announced an unprecedented boycott of social media platforms to combat continued abuse and discrimination.

The FA, Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, PFA, LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out, Women in Football and the FSA will all unite for a social media boycott, from Friday, April 30 to 23.59 on Monday, May 3.

As part of the boycott, clubs across will switch off their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, not post or reply.

Earlier English Football leaders had approached social media giants and in a joint letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, demanded that the platforms stop being havens for abuse by taking tougher action to eradicate the viciousness.

However, little has been done and their inaction has created the belief in the minds of the anonymous perpetrators that they are beyond reach as they are allowed to stay active even after hurling abuse.

Where and when does this stop??

When can we expect civilized societies to respect people irrespective of their caste, color or social status?

#NoRoomForRacism #NoOnlineAbuse

[Saket]

Lights Go Out At Rio’s Christ The Redeemer Over Footballer Vinicius Jr Racism incident

Brazil on Monday turned the lights off on Christ the Redeemer in a display of solidarity with Vinicius Jr. The lights were turned off at 6 p.m. local time for an hour to cap a day when the Brazilian government and the world of football united to condemn the racial slurs aimed at the Real Madrid player during a Spanish league match on Sunday.

Appreciating the move Vinicius Junior himself tweeted the images of Christ the Redeemer and wrote, “Black and imposing. Christ the Redeemer was just like that. An action of solidarity that moves me. But I want, above all, to inspire and bring more light to our struggle. I really appreciate all the affection and support I’ve received in the last few months. Both in Brazil and around the world. I know exactly who’s who. Count on me because the good ones are the majority, and I won’t give up. I have a purpose in life, and if I have to suffer more and more so that future generations don’t go through similar situations, I’m ready and prepared.”

[Goodness]

The Competition Committee has decided to not sanction Vinicius for the red card he picked up vs. Valencia on Sunday.

He is eligible to play Real Madrid’s next match.

[Goodness]

NIKE are planning to launch an anti-racism campaign with Viní Jr. as the face of it.

(Source: @marca)

[Samuel]

Vinicius was targeted by chants from sections of the crowd at the Mestalla during Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss to Valencia, with the game being stopped in the second half for 10 minutes as the visibly angry 22-year-old grabbed the referee and pointed towards fans who he felt had abused him.

Vinicius was later sent off for violent conduct in added time following an altercation with striker Hugo Duro.

He tweeted after the game: "It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. In football they think it’s normal, the federation does too - and the opponent encourages it.
In my own view he should leave La liga, because La liga has the highest number of racist in football today, this may die down a little but believe me the worst is coming, the best thing is to leave the Spanish league, English teams are far better from them.

[Samuel]

Valencia have been hit with a five-game partial stadium closure and a 45,000€ (£39,000) fine following the racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior by fans.

Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Real Madrid’s La Liga match against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium on Sunday after being subjected to alleged monkey chants from the crowd and Real Madrid, who said the abuse constituted a “hate crime”, filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office.

Valencia have 10 working days to file an appeal to the appeals committee.

[Samuel]

Real Madrid’s basketball team shows support to Vinicius Jr.

[Samuel]

“We are all Vinícius. Enough is enough.”

Real Madrid players walk out wearing Vinícius Jr.'s No. 20 shirt

[Jay]

A step in the right direction.

French Open has taken a step to prevent cyberbullying and harassment of players at this year’s edition.

The French Open is offering players at this year’s tournament free access to a tool that will filter hateful messages on their social media platforms in a bid to prevent cyberbullying and harassment, organisers said on Monday.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) said that artificial intelligence will be used to moderate comments players receive on posts in real time - with responses analysed in less than 200 milliseconds - and care will be taken about what is censored.

The FFT added that the technology will be used to protect all official FFT and Roland-Garros social media accounts as well as those of players who opt for it for the duration of the Grand Slam and at least a week after the tournament has ended.

Social media platforms that will be monitored are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Discord.

[Samuel]

Valencia’s Mouctar Diakhaby refused to stand behind LaLiga’s new anti-racism banner that reads “Racists, get out of football”, before their match this evening.

Diakhaby suffered alleged racist abuse in a match against Cádiz back in 2021, but no action was taken.