Brazil and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior admits he is losing his desire to play football because of racist abuse directed toward him in Spain.
Vinicius Junior has suffered racial abuse from opposition fans on many occasions in recent years in La Liga. In May 2023, Real Madrid’s game against Valencia at Mestalla stopped for almost 10 minutes after Vinicius was racially abused by a fan.
Ahead of Brazil’s international friendly against Spain, Vinicius admitted he has “less will to play” because of racist abuse.
“I‘ve been here for a long time watching this and I feel more and more sad,” Vinicius said. “I have less and less will to play. With each complaint made I feel worse, but I have to appear here and show my face.
“I have asked for help from UEFA, FIFA, CONMEBOL, CBF — they can fight against that. The problem that exists in Spain is that racism is not a crime.”
The Brazilian forward broke down in tears during his press conference after answering questions about the racist abuse he has suffered.
“Playing football is important, but the fight against racism is very important,” he said. “Let people of colour have a normal life. If this were the case, I would go to my club’s games focused only on playing. The only thing I want is to continue playing and for everyone to have a normal life.
“Of course, because there are so many people in football, so many better players than me that have passed through here, and I want to make sure that people in the world can evolve and improve. And that we can have equality.
“That in the very near future we can have fewer cases of racism, and that Black people can have a normal life like everyone else. I want to keep fighting for that. Even because, as I said before, if it was just for me, I would have given up, because I stay at home, where no one will swear at me, I go to the games with my head centred on the game so that I can do the best for my team.
“It’s not always possible, so I have to concentrate hard every day.”
Vinicius Jr does not believe Spain is a racist country and ruled out leaving Real Madrid to play in another country.
“I am sure that Spain is not a racist country, but there are many racists and many of them are in the stadiums,” he said. “We have to change because many of them don’t know what racism is. At 23 years old I have to teach many Spaniards what racism is.“
“I have never thought about leaving LaLiga because otherwise I would give the racists what they want,” he added.
“I am going to continue in the best club in the world, scoring many goals so that they continue to see me. Racists are a minority. As I am a daring player, who plays for Madrid and we win many titles, it is very complicated. I’m going to continue because the president supports me, the club supports me and I’m going to continue to win many things.”
