Football news 2023, Spanish league racism against Vinícius Júnior of Real Madrid
3 min read
Spanish football league president Javier Tebas apologised to Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior for his remarks attempting to play down a racist row involving the Brazilian forward at the weekend.
Tebas repeated in various interviews with Brazilian TV channels that he was sorry for his comments, saying they were “untimely” and “misunderstood ».
Immediately following the weekend’s incident, Tebas was critical of Vinícius for attacking the Spanish league and he claimed the Real Madrid star didn’t show up for talks on the subject of racism that he himself had requested.
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Now the Spanish executive regrets his comments.
Vinícius faced racist taunts from fans at Valencia during Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss in the Spanish league, and has complained of similar abuse in the past.
“I have to say I was wrong,” Tebas told TV Globo.
“I have to apologise and ask for forgiveness for that tweet. We love Vinicius and we have appealed to courts, it has been a long while. We are onto this, we want to defend Vinicius and we will keep doing it.
“If this tweet was misinterpreted, and it surely happened because a lot of people took it in a different way, I have to apologise. »
After Tebas’ tweet, Vinicius retorted.
“Instead of criticising racists, the league president shows up on social media to attack me,” Vinícius said.
“I’m not your friend to talk about racism with you. I want actions and punishment.”
The Brazilian player did not respond to Tebas’ apologies.
With Vinícius Júnior watching from the stands, Rodrygo scored the winning goal and raised his fist in solidarity with his Real Madrid and Brazil teammate on Thursday.
It was one of the many tributes to Vinícius in Madrid’s first game since the latest case of racial abuse against the player, who considered leaving the field after being insulted by Valencia fans.
« All the support for Vini was beautiful, » said Rodrygo, whose late goal gave Madrid a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league.
« What happened to him can happen to many players. We know that it has happened a lot of times in soccer. But we are happy because we see that the world is uniting to fight this. »
The show of support came a day after Spanish police arrested seven people on suspicion of hate crime and after Valencia was fined and ordered to partially close its stadium for five games.
Vinícius was not on the field because of a minor injury, but his Real Madrid teammates all came out wearing his No.20 jersey before kick-off.
« Love you, » Vinícius said after the game in a tweet that included a photo of his teammates behind him at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
« Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. »
Wearing plain clothes, Vinícius came out briefly before the match to salute the fans as Madrid players lined up with their backs to the stands showing his jersey.
Vinícius watched the match alongside club president Florentino Pérez.
In the 20th minute, fans applauded and chanted his name. The Brazilian stood up and saluted back from the VIP section.
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