Warning: this article contains references to racist slurs
Spanish football has a racism problem. It’s clear to see.
There is the persistent abuse suffered by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior. There is the ignorant attitude of fans who believe calling a black player a monkey is no different to any other abuse they might direct at the opposition. Then there is the slow, incomplete or often insufficient reaction from those with a responsibility to help stamp it out.
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It’s clear to Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who said as much on Tuesday, speaking two days after Sunday afternoon saw yet more racist abuse directed at the club’s Brazilian forward.
In his side’s 1-0 La Liga defeat at Real Mallorca, Vinicius Jr was verbally abused from the stands. La Liga has said it will investigate and Mallorca condemned what it said was “an isolated case”.
But the 22-year-old suffered the exact same type of racist abuse at Mallorca’s ground last February, too, and Sunday was the third time such abuse has been directed towards him on the pitch this season.
Off the pitch, Vinicius Jr was compared to a monkey on mainstream Spanish TV in September. Last month, an effigy of the player was hung from a motorway bridge close to Real Madrid’s training ground.
As The Athletic has reported, Vinicius Jr wants Spain’s footballing authorities and institutions to do more to protect him. He feels his club should be doing more, too. For example, on the day the effigy was found, Madrid did not speak with him about it.
And in the Spanish media, Vinicius Jr is often portrayed in a negative light; as tempestuous, unruly or disrespectful. Often more air-time is given to this than the racist abuse he receives.
Ancelotti referred to this too.
He said: “The problem is Vinicius? The problem is what happens around Vinicius. And that’s the end of it.
“Vinicius is the victim of something I don’t understand. It is a problem of Spanish football and I am part of Spanish football and it is a problem that we have to solve.”
Here, The Athletic explains how the racist abuse of Vinicius Jr has been growing — and exactly what has been done about it.
How long has this been going on?
The first official response to racist abuse directed at Vinicius Jr was when La Liga made a complaint to the Barcelona public prosecutor’s office after a Clasico at the Camp Nou in October 2021.
He also suffered racist abuse from the stands at Mallorca’s Son Moix stadium in March 2022.
Last September, Spanish agent Pedro Bravo said on controversy-seeking TV programme El Chiringuito de Jugones that Vinicius Jr had to “stop playing the monkey” during his goal celebrations.
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He was subject to further racist chants before and during the La Liga trip to Atletico Madrid that followed shortly after. Then it happened again during another away league match in December, at Real Valladolid.
Before January’s Copa del Rey quarter-final against Atletico, an effigy of the Brazilian forward was hung from a bridge accompanied by a banner in the red and white of Atletico that read: ‘Madrid hates Real’.
On Sunday, Spanish TV picked out audio of an individual shouting “Vinicius, you’re a f****** monkey” from the stands at Mallorca.
How have the football and political authorities reacted?
After the effigy was found near Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground, there was widespread condemnation from Spanish officialdom.
The national police opened an investigation, while La Liga, the Spanish Football Association, national players union the AFE, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and the government’s High Council for Sports (CSD) all issued statements abhorring what happened.
That police investigation has yet to discover who was responsible — although on Tuesday CSD president Jose Manuel Franco said advances have been made, following a newspaper report that said six members of an Atletico ultras group had been identified.
Often, however, reactions from the authorities can appear slow, partial, or just plain insufficient.
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When many Atletico fans were shown on video chanting “Vinicius, you are a monkey” outside the Estadio Metropolitano in September, the club took two days to issue a statement of condemnation.
Madrid’s public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into those racist chants but by December had decided against pursuing any charges.
It explained the decision in a statement that described the chanting as “disagreeable, inappropriate and disrespectful”. But it also said that, as the chanting had lasted “just a few seconds” and took place within the context of “a football game with maximum rivalry”, it was therefore “not a crime against the dignity of the person affected”.
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Atletico’s statement after the effigy was hung near Madrid’s training ground called it a “repugnant and unacceptable action” while also saying that it was “the responsibility of everyone” to ensure there was harmony between the clubs and their fanbases.
After the abuse he faced at Valladolid in December, Vinicius Jr strongly criticised La Liga, saying the league body “continues to do nothing”. That claim was refuted by La Liga president Javier Tebas.
Valladolid have since identified the individuals responsible for racially abusing Vinicius Jr and will take disciplinary action, which could include expelling them from the club. The CSD said last week 12 fans faced fines of up to €4,000 (£3,550; $4,300), and a year-long stadium ban.
After Sunday’s most recent case of racist abuse, at Mallorca, La Liga said it had filed a complaint with the relevant local courts, stating it was the sixth time it had done so in relation to racist abuse directed towards Vinicius Jr. The league body also announced it had set up an email address to report further evidence: [email protected]
What about Real Madrid?
Real Madrid have on three occasions issued statements to condemn racist abuse suffered by Vinicius Jr: following the comments made on TV programme El Chiringuito de Jugones, after the chants at Atletico’s ground in September, and when the effigy was hung from the bridge in January.
Club president Florentino Perez has not commented on the matter, but manager Ancelotti has regularly addressed it during press conferences before or after games, as he did on Tuesday.
Vinicius Jr has also received support from the Bernabeu crowd. “He is one of us, Vinicius is one of us,” sang the ‘animation section’ of the stadium during last month’s Copa del Rey game against Atletico. There was widespread joy when Vinicius Jr completed that 3-1 victory with a late solo goal.
Still, there are some who wonder whether the Bernabeu hierarchy might do more to support and protect their player. Especially given how quickly they can move to defend other club figures, for instance when their former player and coach Zinedine Zidane had been disrespected by French federation president Noel Le Graet.
After last weekend’s racist abuse in Mallorca, there was no official response from Madrid.
Has Vinicius Jr said anything?
In September, Vinicius Jr released a powerful video which directly linked criticism of his dancing goal celebrations to racism in Europe after Spanish agent Bravo said he should “stop playing the monkey”.
“The happiness of a black Brazilian who triumphs in Europe annoys people more,” Vinicius Jr said.
✊🏿🖤! Obrigado pelo apoio! Eu não vou parar! #BailaViniJr pic.twitter.com/h3RsmwYAYw
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) September 16, 2022
When Atletico midfielder Koke was asked what would happen if Vinicius Jr were to perform his dancing celebration in front of Atletico’s fans, he said: “Well, there would be a mess, for sure — the most normal thing.”
After Vinicius Jr was then racially abused at Atletico’s stadium, he wrote on Twitter: “And everything stays the same.”
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Vinicius Jr has not done any Spanish media interviews in recent months because he and his representatives believe his comments will not be accepted in good faith by many in the Spanish media, and wider society.
Nor has Vinicius Jr reached out privately to La Liga or other authorities about this issue — he does not see it as the role of a player to suggest solutions.
He and those around him do not feel anybody in Spanish football or society is taking the subject of racism seriously enough.
Despite his clear frustration, Vinicius Jr does not see leaving Real Madrid or Spanish football as the solution.
Is it only Vinicius Jr being targeted?
The abuse of Vinicius Jr is both unique and unprecedented. Real Madrid have other black players in their squad, but there have been no reported incidents of them being targeted with racist abuse while playing for the club in the last few years.
A lot of air time is given to Vinicius Jr’s performances, with endless replays of his tricks, goal celebrations and reactions to tackles and fouls, followed by a debate after every game over whether he is being provocative.
Other more relevant conversations are avoided. When he is racially abused from the stands, or a La Liga player (Cadiz’s Ivan Alejo) tweets monkey emojis and then quickly deletes them saying he was misinterpreted, or even when an effigy of him is hung from a bridge, it is all covered in just one news cycle and quickly forgotten.
This difference in treatment has led Vinicius Jr to feel he is being targeted — and there is also an impression that some in the Spanish media are wilfully taking advantage and creating controversy around him to boost their ratings.
Is racism generally worse now in Spain than previously?
There is a long history of black players representing La Liga clubs suffering racist abuse. Former Real Madrid players Marcelo and Roberto Carlos, ex-Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o, and Levante midfielder Pape Diop are among the many to have been targeted.
Some of the major incidents are detailed here:
- 1992: Real Madrid fans chant “Ku Klux Klan” at Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper Wilfred Agbonavbare as he prepares to face a penalty
- 1995: Atletico Madrid president Jesus Gil makes a racist comment about his own team’s forward, Adolfo Valencia, on live TV, in reference to his poor performances
- 1995: South African midfielder Quinton Fortune is racially abused by a team-mate while on loan at Real Mallorca from Atletico Madrid
- 1997: Barcelona midfielder Pep Guardiola says Roberto Carlos “does not know our fans” and says he “is not here long enough to judge these things” after the Real Madrid left-back is targeted with monkey chants at the Camp Nou
- 2004: Spain manager Luis Aragones is caught on camera telling Jose Antonio Reyes he should “tell that black **** that you’re better than him” in reference to his Arsenal team-mate Thierry Henry
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- 2005: Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o is racially abused by fans at Real Zaragoza but plays on after initially wanting to leave the pitch. It leads to the first law specifically against racism and intolerance in Spanish football
- 2013: Real Betis player Nosa Igiebor celebrates a goal in the derby against Sevilla by putting up his middle finger at his own team’s fans, later explaining it was due to racist abuse from them
- 2014: Some Atletico Madrid fans chant “Marcelo is a monkey” as the Real Madrid left-back walks onto the pitch with his son after a Copa del Rey game
- 2014: A Villarreal fan throws a banana at Barcelona’s Dani Alves, who picks it up and eats it
- 2023: Colombian striker Mayra Ramirez suffers racist abuse from the stands in Levante’s Copa de la Reina round-of-16 match against Alhama CF, which leads to the game being paused for three minutes and the Guardia Civil entering the pitch
In an interview with The Athletic in November, Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams spoke about the racist abuse he suffered on two occasions in particular: in August 2016 at Sporting Gijon and in January 2020 when playing at Espanyol.
He said: “They were situations which were quite tense, in the moment very unpleasant. You would not wish that on anyone. But it shows there is racism in Spain. There is a part of society, very small, which still does not understand that we are all humans, independent of the culture, sex, or colour of the skin. That is a minority that we have to get rid of.”
(Top photo: Cristian Trujillo/Javier Soriano/ Eric Alonso/David S. Bustamante/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images. Design by Eamonn Dalton)