With the cries against the Spanish football league rising over racism by the fans against Brazilian and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr., many footballers have joined in solidarity for the star player.
On Sunday night, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr., who has been vocal about his struggles against racism in the Spanish football league — La Liga — chose to stop a game midway to address the racist chants from the stands during their 1-0 loss.
It was an extremely unsavoury moment for the Spanish giants, with the Brazilian star a constant victim of such incidents during his impressive rise to elite status in the ongoing season. Things reached a melting point on Sunday night, and the winger had to report the incident to the referee but got no relief.
He has received a lot of support from fellow footballers, proving that humanity is much bigger than the sport.
“You're not alone,” France forward Kylian Mbappe said on Instagram. “We are with you and we support you.” At least one fan was banned for life by Valencia because of Sunday's incident.
Neymar also shared a story in solidarity with his countryman.
Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo 'counted himself in' in Vinicius' fight against racism. " As long as there's impunity and complicity, there's racism. It is inadmissible that referees, the Federation and authorities also remain without action and that fans applaud absurd size. Enough is enough. Vini count me in your fight In our struggle," he wrote on his Instagram post while also changing his profile picture.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino also joined in the solidarity “Full solidarity to Vinicius,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. “There is no place for racism in football or in society and FIFA stands by all players who have found themselves in such a situation. Events during the match between Valencia and Real Madrid show that this needs to be the case.”
