Vinicius Junior believes that racism is “normal” in La Liga after the latest attack on the Real Madrid star during Sunday’s clash against Valencia.
The clash at Mestalla was suspended for several minutes when Vinicius pointed out home fans who racially abused him.
The Brazilian was later sent off after he hit out at Valencia’s Hugo Duro and has taken to social media to argue that Spain is developing a reputation as a racist country following repeated attacks on him.
“It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga,” he wrote in a post on Twitter. “The competition thinks it’s normal, the [Spanish Football] Federation does too and the opponents encourage it.
“I’m so sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi today belongs to racists.
“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world.
“I’m sorry for the Spaniards who don’t agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no defence. I agree. But I am strong and I will go to the end against racists. Even if far from here.”
Vinicius later took to Instagram to post a copy of La Liga’s referee’s report from the match, which did not appear to cite any of the racist insults he was subjected to.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke out in support of the 22-year-old after the game, arguing that it had to be stopped and admitting that he considered taking Vinicius off because of the abuse.
The winger has consistently been the subject of racist abuse throughout this season. La Liga have already filed at least eight legal complaints related to racial attacks on him.
Fans of Atletico Madrid, Real Valladolid, Real Mallorca and Osasuna have previously targeted him this year and the player urged the authorities to do more to fight racism, saying in February: “Let’s start to punish those people or we’ll go back to how it was before. But as long as we don’t do anything, we’ll continue fighting for ourselves.”
