‘Hurts me’ – Former Real Madrid ace lends support to Vinicius amidst racial harassment | OneFootball

Vinicius Jr has, once again, become the subject of a lot of controversy in football as the Brazilian tries to tackle issues of racism against him.

The problem has been going on since he arrived to Spain, but has recently spread like wildfire, with the player being racially abused and targeted by rival fans during each away game.

He was even subject of racial and personal chants ahead of Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona – a game he was not even participating in.

Recently, as Real Madrid beat Osasuna 1-4 away from home, the Pamplona support were singing ‘Vinicius d*e’ among other things. Daniel Carvajal tried bringing the attention of the referee towards the same, but no action was taken.

The Real Madrid forward also broke down in tears during a presser for Brazil while talking about these issues.

“Verbal racism happens not only in Spain but also throughout the world. Every day I go home I get sadder. Nobody is supporting me,” he said with a heavy heart.

Since then, a lot of his peers have lent support to him. Former Real Madrid and Brazilian forward Julio Baptista also spoke about this, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

“It hurts me”

“Everything he’s going through hurts me. All of us who are in sport have to have a conscience because racism is a matter of education.

“I think that there must be much more severe and important sanctions so that people who do it cannot go to football for a long period of time. If we do that, football will be winning,” he said ahead of Spain vs Brazil.

Baptista went on to give Vinicius advice about how to deal with situations such as these, saying that he should not stop fighting.

“The advice I give to him is to keep fighting for your ideals. He is a very young boy who comes from a very humble family and is learning many things. I think we should look at these things with a magnifying glass, so that football wins.”

Not a racist country, says Baptista

The 42-year-old insisted, much like Daniel Carvajal, that Spain is ‘not a racist country’, which of course, is of no help to someone who is the subject of racial harassment every other weekend.

“I have been in Spain for many years, and I think it is not a racist country. But there are people who appropriate it in stadiums. I believe that football is one of the sports that can united people and all social classes, and I believe that racism is totally out of place, whether here, in Brazil, or anywhere else.”

Finally, he spoke about Madrid’s upcoming clash against Manchester City in the Champions League.

“They are one of the strongest rivals in the competition, and anything can happen. We hope that Madrid are well and can play a good game. It is difficult to determine who is the favourite, because we are talking about the two best teams in Europe.”