Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior was sent off in the final stages of Sunday’s 0-1 loss against Valencia in the Spanish top flight. Afterwards, the Brazilian launched a fierce attack on social media against the racist abuse he believes he endured from the crowd during the match.
“Racism is normal in La Liga”, he writes on Twitter, elaborating that the league that “once belonged to Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi” now “belongs to racists”.
The 22-year-old has also previously been the focus of insults and jumps from opposing supporters.
“Today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists,” he writes further, while emphasizing that the country has welcomed him.
Brazil’s president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, took the opportunity at the G7 meeting in Japan to support his countryman and condemn the incident. Lula also called on Fifa and La Liga to deal with the problem in the strongest possible way so that “racism does not take hold in the football stadiums”.
Several cases of racism have occurred in the Spanish league this season. Among other things, Vinícius Júnior’s teammate Antonio Rüdigers has been a target. In April, Vinícius Júnior testified against a Mallorca fan accused of calling him “monkey” during a match. The same fan was also accused of insulting Villarreal midfielder Samuel Chukwueze in another league match.