from racial slurs to nine months of controversy

May 21, 2023 Mestalla, Valencia. Vinicius Junior He endures racist abuse both in the stands and during the game. “It’s the same as always. They called me “monkey”“He says Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea, match official. Brazilian after months of abuse two complaints in the 2021-2022 season. And six in 2022-2023, explodes against the Spanish football sector, which does not stop attacking his skin color. “Spain is a racist country“, he shouts on his social networks, causing a global reaction in his favor.

Nine months later, Vinicius returns to the Mestalla this Saturday, marking a turning point in his career. sports, personal and media career. In the match against Valencia he suffered his first sending off in Leagueexploded against racists at all levels and became a global anti-racism image promoted by the representation agency American rapper Jay-Z which he joined last summer. After everything went as before for him and for Spanish football, Mestallaeven causing a shutdown Christ Corcovado from Rio de Janeiro.

The nine complaints of racist abuse against a player accumulated in just a few months in La Liga and in the courts have given way to the emptiness of this season. Unique and embarrassing moles were a classic Montjuic against Barça, where they were reported Mossos insults towards the Brazilian and racist chants from a group of fans at the gate Metropolitan ahead of the Madrid derby on January 19.

At other fields in Spain the situation has softened somewhat. The Brazilian has been injured for a month now, but the reception has not been as hostile as in other seasons. And he has learned to manage it, as he admitted during the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia: “I’m not a saint, sometimes I talk too much, dribble the ball in ways I shouldn’t, do things I shouldn’t do.” do, but I’m here to improve, I want to improve“, he assured. He will arrive at the Mestalla after he has regained his form. He was Madrid’s best player against Girona (one goal and two assists) and Seville and in Valdebebas they see him more relaxed than ever, despite the noise.

Accusations from Valencia

However, in Valencia the atmosphere remains extremely hostile and the preparation for the match is completely different from any other match. In the vicinity of Mestalla Vinicius is accused condemn the entire crowd on social networks and lies in his statement, something filtered by the defense lawyer, while the reality, according to the transcript to which EFE had access, is that the Brazilian only referred to the insults of the accused and the hostile environment, but didn’t generalize. This decontextualization was the reason for Valencia’s statement accusing the footballer of “unfounded lies and misconceptions” and newspaper cover Supersport calling Vinicius “Pinochius”.

The latest was the refusal of Valencia, which launched the anti-racism project VCF World in September, to provide access to the field for Producer Netflix who is working on a documentary about the striker. The decision, they say in the club,”protect the club“. Platform cameras have had no problem infiltrating other fields in Spain, but in Mestalla they will have to make do with recording the surrounding area.

Hugo Duro, one of the important players in the Valencia team, asked for a hostile environment, but “football“, although the proximity of the statement before the judge of the three accused of insulting the revolutions does not reduce.

On the field – Madrid’s key match in the fight for the League. He lost at Mestalla last season and now he must win at Mestalla to keep your distance from Girona and Barça before the return match of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League against Leipzig. The noise of the Mestalla previews does not penetrate Valdebebas, who is accustomed to great duels and tense atmospheres.