Vinicius Junior, one of the world’s best soccer players, was the victim of a racist attack on Sunday – again.
The pressure on La Liga is now enormous: Something has to happen.
– I think that this time they will have to act in a completely different way, says Frida Nordstrand, expert at C More.
On Sunday, Real Madrid faced Valencia in the Spanish La Liga and already when Madrid’s bus arrived at the arena, the players were met by racist chants from opposing fans.
The match was to become messy and was temporarily stopped in the middle of the second half, when the home crowd threw several objects at Madrid’s players.
On television images, you could see how superstar Vinicius Junior confronted supporters in front of the stands, after he was subjected to racist abuse.
“Racism is normal in La Liga”
After the match, the star commented on what happened on Twitter:
“It wasn’t the first time, not the second, and not even the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The league thinks it’s normal, the union does too, and the opponents encourage it. I am so sorry,” he wrote, among other things, and in the past 24 hours has received enormous support from the football world.
La Liga has reported racist attacks against Vinicius on nine previous occasions. This is the tenth time it has happened – involving the same player. But Sunday’s attack stands out. For the first time ever, Real Madrid will now themselves take the matter to court.
– It is a very big thing in Spain right now and very much so because there has been such a great response from the outside world, explains Frida Nordstrand.
Expect consequences
C more’s football expert hopes and believes that this time the racism scandal can give rise to actual action from the Spanish Football Federation.
– I think that this time they will have to act in a completely different way than they have done before. It’s a shame that it will take ten reports, concerning one player, for it to go this far, says Frida Nordstrand.
– Now the pressure from the outside world is too great. He has received far too much support, Real Madrid have reported it themselves, and this time there must be consequences. The colleagues I have spoken to are very hopeful that there will be a substantial follow-up, she continues.
Hit back himself
The case stands out in a further way. This time Vinicius himself acted against the supporters in the stands.
– This is the first time he has acted in this way. Partly by going out and talking to the coach, giving a comment that he does not want to continue the match, but also reacting to individual reporters with different gestures, says Nordstrand.
– It hasn’t actually happened since 2006 when Samuel Eto’o against Zaragoza stepped aside and told the coach and the referees that ‘I won’t take this, I won’t continue the match’.