Vinicius got fed up and discovered the fan who used racist insults at Mestalla. He got fed up and was about to abandon the game against Valencia, although, in the end, he continued. But the Madrid player ended up being sent off for assaulting Hugo Duro, leaving the pitch making ostensible gestures to the Ché fans that they would drop to the Second Division.
“It’s that one, it’s that one! It was you!” Vinicius denounces when he hears racist insults from Mestalla
In the 73rd minute of Valencia-Madrid, Vinicius went to a sector of the Mestalla stands, irritated at having heard racist insults. “It’s that one, it’s that one! It was you!”, said the Brazilian striker indignantly, who tries to be contained by the Valencia players, including Gayà, his captain. Militao joins Vinicius’s complaints. And even Courtois crosses the entire pitch to try to calm down his teammate.
For almost 10 minutes, the match stops. De Burgos Bengoetxea, the referee, spoke first with Vinicius and then also with Ancelotti, who recommended that he not leave the pitch. After the Mestalla public address system announces that the racism protocol, set by the League, has been activated, the match resumes amid insults from the majority.
🎥 The image from the position of #The day after. pic.twitter.com/vdAmpMDkn2
— The Day After on Movistar Plus+ (@ElDiaDespues) May 21, 2023
Police locate fans
Immediately, and following the recommendations of Vinicius, who does not stop pointing out the fans who have insulted him, they are located in the stands just behind Mamardashvili’s goal. The security forces intervene quickly to remove them from Mestalla, something that Valencia later recalled in its official statement, issued minutes after the incidents.
“Although this is an isolated episode, insults to any player from the rival team have no place in football and do not fit in with the values and identity of Valencia CF. The Club is investigating what happened and will take the most severe measures”, announces. The most severe measures are expulsion and taking away their membership status.
Expelled and when leaving Mestalla makes gestures that Valencia is going to Second
The game became entangled in a climate of maximum tension, which ended with Vinicius being sent off for attacking Hugo Duro. The play is checked by the VAR, which determines that the Brazilian’s blow to the face of the Valencia player deserves a red card. The white end applauds De Burgos Bengoetxea, the referee, in his face as soon as he received the expulsion.
And later, when he is on his way to the changing rooms, he ignores Lucas Vázquez, his teammate, and turns on himself, still on the Mestalla grass, gesturing that Valencia is going to Second Division. Not only that. He raises his hand and raises two fingers to make his message clear, which outrages the Che bench, which goes out to look for him, but, after a riot, he can enter the locker room.
Today has been a sad day at Mestalla, where a group of fans have shown their worst version. It is time to stop talking and act forcefully. Racism cannot have a place in football or in society. NO TO RACISM ANYWHERE. pic.twitter.com/4eZO8uSYQA
—Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) May 21, 2023
“You are not the culprit, you are the victim!” Ancelotti told the Brazilian
While the fans who had insulted Vinicius were located, Ancelotti tried to calm him down. “If an entire stadium calls you a monkey, the game must be stopped,” said the white coach later, who refused to talk about the game with Valencia, which ended in defeat (1-0).
“I don’t want to talk about football. Only about what has happened here. I told him: ‘Go on, go on… You’re not the culprit, you’re the victim'”, Ancelotti said. “Besides, they give him a meaningless red card. Having said that, we have a problem. Well, I don’t have it. The League has a problem.”
“Spain is a racist country”, shouts Vinicius
“The triumph of the racists has been my expulsion,” Vinicius writes on his Instagram account in the first message he issues after the incidents. Then, he is much more forceful with a second message where he even considers the possibility of leaving Spanish football.
“It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in the League. The championship that belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi is today for racists. Spain is a beautiful country, which welcomed me and whom I love, but who agreed to export the image to the world of a racist country. I’m sorry for the Spaniards who disagree, but today in Brazil, Spain is known as a racist country,” he said before leaving a last message: “But I am strong and I will go to the end against the racists, even if it is far from here”.
A spectator yelled “‘monkey, monkey'” to Vinicius, collects the arbitration record
At first, the incidents did not appear in the arbitration report written by De Burgos Bengoetxea, although it was alleged that it was “a computer error”, as explained by the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). Later, he rectified and did add what had happened.
“In the 73rd minute, a spectator from the south stands “Mario Kempes” addressed Real Madrid CF player No. 20 Don Vinicius José De Oliveira Do Nascimiento yelling at him: ‘Monkey, monkey’, for which the racism protocol was activated. , notifying the field delegate to make the corresponding announcement over the public address system. The match was stopped until said announcement was broadcast over the stadium’s public address system”, added the referee in the arbitration document in which he had made it clear in his first version that in the 71st minute “several objects” fell in the area defended by the visiting team from the “Mario Kempes” south stand, for which reason the protocol for throwing objects was activated.
1) Neither Spain nor @The league They are racists, it is very unfair to say that.
2) From @The league we denounce and prosecute racism with all the harshness within our powers.
3) This season racist insults have been reported 9 times (8 of them have been for insults against… https://t.co/KFXHOJv6cb
— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) May 22, 2023
Thebes responds to Vinicius and tells him “don’t let yourself be manipulated”
The Brazilian striker’s attacks on Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, get an immediate response from the leader. “Since those who should not explain to you what LaLiga is and what it can do in cases of racism, we have tried to explain it to you,” Tebas reveals on his personal Twitter account, complaining about the player’s lack of commitment.
“You have not shown up for any of the two agreed dates that you yourself requested. Before criticizing and insulting LaLiga, you need to inform yourself properly,” Tebas asked. “Don’t let yourself be manipulated and make sure you fully understand each other’s competencies and the work we have been doing together.”
Vinicius also immediately answers him. “Once again instead of criticizing racists, the president of LaLiga appears on social networks to attack me… I’m not your friend to talk about racism. I want actions and punishments,” demands the Madrid striker.
And, again, there was a response from Thebes: “Neither Spain nor @LaLiga are racist, it is very unfair to say that. From @LaLiga we denounce and persecute racism with all the hardness within our powers. This season racist insults have been denounced 9 times (8 of them have been for insults against Vinicius. We always identify the madmen and file a complaint with the sanctioning bodies. It doesn’t matter how few they are, we are always relentless. We cannot allow the image of a competition that is above all a symbol of union between peoples, where more than 200 black players in 42 clubs receive the respect and affection of all the fans every day, with racism being an extremely specific case (9 complaints) that we are going to eradicate”
“It’s not fair”, condemns Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil
The racist case with Vinicius immediately spreads throughout the world. “You are not alone,” Kylian Mbappé, the Paris SG striker, tells him. “How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this shit?” he asks indignantly. Ferdinand River, the former Manchester United player. “Brother, you need protection… who protects Vini in Spain? He receives a red card after being hanged and receiving racist insults during the game,” added the former English player hurt.
“It is not fair that a poor young man who has succeeded in life and who is becoming one of the best footballers suffers this type of attack,” said Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, before beginning the press conference at the that he was going to value his participation in the G7 summit. “We cannot allow fascism and racism to take over soccer stadiums,” added the Brazilian politician.
