Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior said he has “suffered a lot and still suffers” because of the racism he’s been subjected to since arriving in Spain in 2018.
Yet the Real Madrid star also said he thought progress had been made in recent months.
A leading voice in the fight against racism after being repeatedly being the victim of racial abuse by some opposing fans in Spain, Vinícius spoke ahead of Black Awareness Day in Brazil on Nov. 20.
Vinícius, 24, told his country’s Football Confederation (CBF): “I play in Spain, where I suffered a lot and still suffer sometimes. But of course, it [suffering] is less with the help of all the clubs, of all the people who are doing everything possible to combat racism, like the CBF does.”
Racism in football has been a recurring problem in Spain.
In June, three Valencia fans were jailed for eight months for racially abusing Vinícius during a LaLiga game in May 2023, in the first verdict of its kind in Spain.
In September, a Spanish court handed a 12-month suspended sentence to a Mallorca supporter that used racists insults against Vinícius and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze in February 2023.
Last month, Spain’s national police arrested four people responsible for a hate campaign against the Brazil international.
Vinícius has welcomed the latest actions and the increased attention to the problem from LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
“In the last three months we have already managed to put three or four people in jail and make them pay for the crime they committed,” he said. “We are on the right path.”
Vinícius has an anti-racism law named after him by the Rio de Janeiro government for sporting events to be stopped or suspended in the event of racist conduct.
Regarding the significance of Black Awareness Day, Vinícius said: “It is very important for everything we have been through and for everything the CBF has done, together with FIFA, together with all the players,” he said. “We are in this fight together.
“The intention is that in the very near future more and more we can have fewer cases of racism.”
