It’s Not Football, It’s La Liga
by Valdivia
If you don’t usually watch Spain’s La Liga week in and week out, the World Cup last December might have been the first time you really got to watch the young Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr play.
Or you might have gotten an earlier glimpse of him scoring the winning goal for Real Madrid in last year’s Champions League Final.
Vini Jr is currently one of the most exciting players to watch. He is fun to see on the pitch, leaning heavily on the Brazilian style of dribbling.
Vini is super fast, fearless and most importantly, relentless. He will continue trying past superior defenses creating opportunities and spaces when other players can’t.
And on many of those occasions he manages to dribble past opponents in ways that makes them look like they are stuck in molasses.
When The Athletic did a profile on him last year ahead of the Champions League Final, Carlos Abrantes, the Director of the Flamengo Escolinha (the fútbol academy for one of the main clubs in Rio) and the man who discovered Vini said that the parents of the other kids used to joke the only way the other players could catch him was to ride a motorcycle.
Vini Jr was already a star with Flamengo in Brazil when he joined Real Madrid (in 2018 for a record signing fee of €46 million—at the time the second most expensive sale of a player in the history of Brazil behind only Neymar).
Though he began playing with the third division Castilla team, soon enough he was playing with the first Real Madrid team, making an impact in important games, changing the pace and creating opportunities for scoring. Last season he evolved from a crucial changemaker to one of the team’s most crucial goal makers with 22 goals and 16 assists.
At 21, Vinicius the star had arrived.
Unfortunately this is not just a story about Vini’s deserved success but one about the racist discrimination he has been subjected to in La Liga.
Although he had been subjected to racist comments since the moment he arrived, the racist attacks against him began in earnest last September ahead of the derby against Atletico Madrid thanks to the Spanish football press (a group that is craven in the same way that the WHPC is when a dem is in the WH).
The leading football show in Spanish tv, El Chiringuito (think a hybrid of TMZ, Hello magazine and Fox’s The Five) had one of its pundits say that if Vini wanted to celebrate by dancing and wanting to “hacer el mono” (an expression that can mean act like a fool, but noteworthy because it uses the word mono, monkey to describe a black player) he could go back to Brazil to dance at the Sambodromo.
The message was received and hours before the game began against Atletico, their fans could be heard singing Vinicius is a monkey in the outskirts of the stadium, making monkey noises and a group was holding a toy monkey with Vini’s shirt as if the chants were too subtle and the point needed to be graphically made.
Though there was official condemnation from La Liga (and even a referral to a local Madrid court) the case ended making things worse when they ruled that the chants could only be heard for a few seconds and because it was “in the context of maximum sports rivalry” you really could not consider it a racist act. I kid you not.
So the racist chants continued, not just on the outskirts of rival stadiums but also inside.
Even worse, ahead of the second derby against Atletico Madrid in January, an effigy of Vinicus was hanged from a bridge near the Real Madrid training grounds.
As the press continued to cultivate this image of Vinicius as a provocateur who deserved whatever abuse he got it was not just the fans who verbally abused him but also rival players and referees who began to treat him differently
Vinicius became this year the most fouled player in European football.
If you are a dribbler who makes other players feel like fools it is natural they will try to stop you any way they can. What is notable is how unwilling the Spanish referees are to punish this and how violent the Spanish players are with Vini.
When Vinicuis plays with Brazil or in European championships there is never the kind of violent fouling he receives in Spain.
In Spain the referees have seemed happy for Vinicius to be fouled and fouled and fouled again, only rarely punishing the other players. If he complains about this, he is the one who gets a yellow card. And because he complains, both about the violence against him on the pitch and the lack of action by the referees, the Spanish press gets to feed the narrative that he is showing bad sportsmanship.
La Liga knows there is a problem. Each club plays 19 games away, and they have had to file complaints of racist abuse against Vini in 11 of them. But sure, it is just a few bad apples, as they like to say when asked about the problem
The best part? Only one of these complaints has made it to court so far and the person found guilty is now countersuing Vini for being a player who ‘behaves in ways that provoke’ racist chants.
Though this has been pretty untenable all year long, this toxic brew of press campaign, fan racism, and lax refereeing came to a head last weekend during the May 21st match against Valencia. There were hours of monkey chants, death wishes yelled at him during the game and a referee who failed to defend a player who was pleading with him to stop the game. After a melee on the pitch, in which Vinicius was being held in a chokehold by a rival player, it was Vini who got a red card and was expelled for trying to extricate himself by pushing the other player away.
Summary of todays game:
Vini got fouled all game, reff didn’t back him. Got racially abused by Valencia fans, reff didn’t back him. Then he was held in a chokehold by a Valencia player. He pushed him away rightfully so. Reff decides to give Vini a red card.
BIGGEST JOKE OF A… pic.twitter.com/XHRiJJEhox
— 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗼 (@IconicBlanco) May 21, 2023
This seems to have been the last straw for Vini, who published a long post on social media asking La Liga once again to do something about it and saying that it was now characterized by racist behavior. He also hinted he might end up having to leave Spain, which would be disastrous for La Liga in PR and sponsorship terms. Here’s the tweet.
Não foi a primeira vez, nem a segunda e nem a terceira. O racismo é o normal na La Liga. A competição acha normal, a Federação também e os adversários incentivam. Lamento muito. O campeonato que já foi de Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano e Messi hoje é dos racistas. Uma nação…
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) May 21, 2023
What ensued might be familiar from our own racial backlash dynamics here in the US. While there was a wave of sympathy for Vini and global condemnation from all corners (FIFA, the Brazilian government, the international football press—who know Vini, follow La Liga and say they have never seen anything so revolting—even from the US State Department), in Spain what Vini got was backlash.
The press is unrepentant. They continued with their campaign blaming Vinicius for the racist chants (why must he be so uppity and defend himself?)
Valencia FC think they are the victims. They had a big sign in their game this weekend defending their fans as the best in La Liga. Yeah, totally the best!
This is the scene that greeted Vinicius Jr at Valencia. 100s of fans. Widespread monkey chanting. Widespread chanting of "Vinicius you're a monkey." (shocking footage obtained by La Sexta)
These are the faces of racism.
Identify them. Ban them. Prosecute them. pic.twitter.com/rlNVz5aVon
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) May 23, 2023
One silver lining seems to be that La Liga may be finally reacting and looking to change and apply their racism protocol to punish teams whose fans engage in this behavior (closing the stadiums, financial fines, losing points). But this came only after its leader Javier Tebas had initially taken to twitter to lecture Vinicius about being tricked into believing there is racism in Spain. He later half apologized and then gave an interview to the Brazilian press announcing the changes they plan to make.
But I am sincerely not very optimistic.
I would prefer Vini gets to play in a football league where he is protected and appreciated, and not one where on his first game a rival player bit him on the head and he was the one who got a yellow card.
WaterGirl
Let’s welcome Valdivia to her guest post!!!
Valdivia
@WaterGirl: thank you!
Just actually saw this, Brazilian players seem determined to keep the issue alive.
Here they are today protesting Vini’s treatment at the start of one of their league matches
Van Buren
I have to believe that league officials are complicit in the bad officiating.
Alison Rose
Thank you for this post. As a football fan (though I don’t closely follow La Liga), it has always been so disturbing to see the level of open-faced bigotry aimed at players of color, generally Black players. There were multiple incidents in the EPL of fans throwing bananas on the field, as well as engaging in a lot of what Vini has had to endure. It’s fucking disgusting, and the fact that the league barely seems to care what is being done to him so blatantly, and the refs are basically acting as accessories…I cannot imagine the level of anger and frustration he’s feeling. And yet, if he expresses it even a tiny bit, then HE’S the one in the wrong. Just repugnant.
It’s especially obvious here that this comes down largely to jealousy or something over his skills. Not that he wouldn’t experience racism if he were a mediocre player, but the fact that he is just clearly better than a lot of the white guys on the pitch is something a lot of fans apparently can’t tolerate. How anyone who claims to love the game could watch him, with that footwork reminiscent of Ronaldinho, and not be amazed and want to cheer, even if he’s on the opposing team, is baffling to me. Racism fucking sucks. I do hope Vini is able one day to move to a team and a league where perhaps they will care a bit more about his well-being.
Rebel’s Dad
Welcome to the front page!
This is absolutely disgusting behavior. During TFG’s presidency I actually thought I lost my ability to be outraged, but nope, turns out it’s still alive.
Unfortunately, I don’t expect much to change. The European mentality seems to be like that of our domestic far left- racism is a uniquely American phenomenon.
BR
Wow, thank you for sharing this. I had known about this sort of behavior in European soccer but somehow had the mistaken idea that open racism was in the past. Is this sort of behavior common outside of soccer as well in Spain and elsewhere?
Lapassionara
@Alison Rose: ditto to this. I know very little about the sport, but I am outraged over the treatment of this talented and skilled young player.
Valdivia
@Van Buren:
I think it is blatant when white (or Spanish) RM players get fouled once and officials immediately punish the other players. With Vini it takes 6 or 7 fouls if not more.
cope
It was a treat to watch him play in the WC last year and it’s a shame he’s been so mistreated. I am probably out of bounds for hoping so but if he were to move to the EPL, I would get to see more of his brilliant play.
Where ever he plays, though, I hope authorities clamp down on the odious, racist abuse he has been subjected to.
Valdivia
@Alison Rose:
it is such a toxic brew of complicity, press agitation, local racism and also frustration that he is very good. I sadly can’t watch anymore when he plays away because I get so upset watching and hearing this stuff
In other leagues they seem to punish more forcefully which helps a bit. Spain and Italy are the worst offenders on this
West of the Cascades
Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s disgusting that La Liga blames the victim here (Vini). I hope he finds some place to play that deals with open racism in a more self-aware fashion.
(And although there’s no way he’d come to MLS, most MLS supporters groups are affirmatively anti-racist – I was part of the Timbers Army in Portland for 10 years before moving away, and this was stressed despite some missteps in chants and behavior that got self-policed – and MLS handed out a six-game suspension last year to Dante Vanzier of the Red Bulls for making a racist remark to Jeremy Ebobisse, although many fans and commentators thought that was not enough given the league’s supposed “zero tolerance” policy for racism).
Valdivia
@Rebel’s Dad:
Thank you. And I also am not so hopeful.
There is a racism protocol that is supposed to halt a game if this behavior happens. Somehow it has never been applied!
As bad as other places are, they seem to at least punish clubs (like closing their stadiums after events like these) which might help. That has never happened in Spain and wish it would
Valdivia
@BR: One of the things that some of the spanish futbol press there likes to say to make Vini the culprit is that as long as no one is getting openly harassed on the street there is no racism.
I think there is structural and subtler racism but openly yelling this kind of stuff happens in the context of futbol.
They yell insults all the time at rivals, horrible things too, but these racist stuff is just on another level.
AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team
Thank you for this illuminating and (rightfully) enraging expose. Horrible story, great post.
Valdivia
@West of the Cascades:
Knowing that you have a league that actively pursues this is so inspiring. It takes everyone policing and collaborating. I am a little despondent that this would happen in Spain since they seem to truly think they do not have a problem.
The only worst case I have seen was after Mario Balotelli got racially abused in Verona. Sport Witness did a piece on it. Just horrific
Baud
Hi Valdivia.
Valdivia
@AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team:
I tried not to curse a lot though that is pretty much all I do when I watch those games when he gets abused.
I hope to have an update on it in the fall when the league begins again.
Valdivia
@Baud: Hola! :)
So nice to be back and get to chat (or rant) with you all
El Cruzado
Spanish sports tabloids are about as repugnant as their anglo-saxon brethren. Fortunately for Spain, they keep themselves to sports (mostly fútbol of course, but they can also spew their venom on other sports seasonally).
Which is I guess a good thing for the stability of Spanish democracy, but definitely doesn’t make the sports environment edifying.
BR
@Valdivia: I see, not great.
Valdivia
@El Cruzado: I was shocked to see how terrible they were but you are right that at least you don’t really get them making mischief outside of sports.
El Chinringuito is the tv equivalent of those tabloids and leading in the campaign against Vini. Very repulsive.
Ruckus
Hi Valdivia!
I played soccer in HS, somewhere around a million or so years ago and I have to say watching that first video was amazing. It may be racism, it may be because he is so much better than many other players, it is likely a combo platter. Soccer to me was actually quite brutal because it takes a lot of skill to play it even half assed. To play at his level is far more than rare, it is almost unbelievable. He has a skill level that few humans could even learn if they wanted to. And it is a unique and amazing skill he has. His balance, control and split second decision making is amazing.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Allowing racism with the excuse that it’s just Spanish fans being excited about their team is just total bullshit. All they have done is found a way to excuse open racism and hatred, making it a legitimate and accepted part of Spain’s national sport.
Once again we have the media tossing chum out to the sharks, reporting on the feeding frenzy and making excuses for the shark’s actions as if it’s news. Pieces of shit, all of them. Wag the dog media…
Alison Rose
@West of the Cascades: Yeah, MLS has generally been on the ball (no pun intended) with this stuff, and it seems like a good portion of players and fans, as well. There are always going to be jerks, but they seem to be a minority. I do wonder if that’s helped by the fact that in the US, soccer fandom seems to lean more to the left. Like, most REAL MURRICANS hate soccer because it’s gLoBaL or whatever and they hate not having time-outs and shit.
I recall an incident in a USL match between San Diego Loyal (co-owned and coached by Landon Donovan) and Phoenix Rising where a member of the latter team used a homophobic slur against a SDL player who is openly gay. The whole SDL team basically said if Phoenix wouldn’t sub the guy off, they wouldn’t continue the match. The Phoenix coached refused, and the SDL players walked, even though it ended their playoffs chances, and Donovan backed them up 100%. Did my heart good.
Valdivia
@cope: I think you might get to see him more in the EPL if things continue this way. I just want him to play without getting abused anymore
Alison Rose
@Valdivia: HE CAN COME TO NEWCASTLE, THAT WOULD MAKE ME VERY HAPPY.
Valdivia
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Amen!
This is how I feel every week, hearing the press at the press conferences and the commentators saying his deserves etc.
My favorite is that the press there pick the one player who most violently fouled him and give him interviews the whole week after, they get their fifteen minutes of fame for doing that. Just more incentive to keep on abusing him without anyone doing much about it on the pitch.
cope
@Valdivia: Yes, absolutely. Sadly, I don’t hold out a lot of hope for the human species in the long run.
Ruckus
@Valdivia:
A large part of the population here in the US didn’t think we had a racism problem for a long time and a not insignificant part of the current population still thinks that racism is not only normal but correct thinking and behavior.
It takes a very long time, likely several lifetimes worth of effort to change the concept of racism among humans and I suspect that we as species will likey have racism to some degree for a long time. I believe that it is ingrained in people from very early on, as infants and children grow and it takes effort and desire to change. And a large group of humans will resist that effort and desire if there is any possibility to do so. We as creatures have many languages, many visible differences and I think we often, I call it “lock in,” on the features that we like/dislike in others at an early age. Often that “lock in” is taught subtlety rather than openly and then is often harder to detect and change.
Valdivia
@Alison Rose: :)
sincerely at this point it would make me happy if he gets at least a little bit of protection and much more appreciation.
As you say he has amazing skills and would probably be way more famous if he played there anyway!
I will also confess I would follow Vini to whatever team he went if he decided to go (please make it not be Manchester City cause I would die)
And Newscatle had a rocking season this year. Congrats
prostratedragon
Thanks for the post, Valdivia, though the news is bad. I had noticed in lassing that there is racist behavior at times at the games, but getting a choke frim another player and a red card to add the insult is another level. Maybe Vinicius will look elsewhere.
Valdivia
@West of the Cascades
@Alison Rose:
This story about the homophobic slur is amazing. I wish Vini’s teammates were a little more hard core in his defense. It finally started happening at the end of the season but nothing like that. Just walk off the effing pitch I say.
Valdivia
@Ruckus: Hi Ruckus!
I have never played but have been watching for a long time and he makes it look so easy when it is not as you say. Before the game against Valencia where he looked just totally enraged, you usually saw him on the pitch laughing and smiling and non stop trying to make things happen. He is a super talent and as you can tell from this post is makes me so enraged
Also your point about how long it takes for a society to accept they have a problem is so true. It just blows my mind how insistent they are on saying there are no racists in Spain. I think everyone there needs that famous video that teaches people how to talk about racist behavior in ways that are productive (h/t to omnes who reminded me about this video this week)
Alison Rose
@Valdivia: Thanks! And LOL same about Man City. Also it would hurt if he ended up Sunderland since they’re our derby rival, but I’d imagine he if did come to the EPL, only the top teams could possibly afford him.
Valdivia
@prostratedragon: I think he will stay for at least one more season. Though I am not hopeful maybe the arrival of a bunch of other players can entertain the press for a while and give him some breathing room.
@Alison Rose: yes from what I know of his contract he has a huge release clause so only very top clubs with lots of money will be able to get him. I think he is on contract until 2028
Ben Cisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
@Ruckus: Well said.
This story is infuriating but sadly not unexpected. One of the worst things about the TRE45ON maladministration was the fact that it tried to normalize the unthinkable. I remember the various posts from those planning an escape. Having been around the world, I knew there was nowhere to go.
Valdivia
I am going to step away for a quick dinner and be back a little later.
Thank you guys for sharing in my rant. I have been fuming all season long about this!
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Alison Rose: Tottenham!
Valdivia
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: @Alison Rose:
Anything guys, as long as it is not MC (crosses all fingers and toes)
I saw a bunch of people freaking out cause he is in London right now at the the Tottenham stadium, but he is there for the Beyonce concert :)
billcinsd
@West of the Cascades: Well, it’s better than the 1 game the EPL gave John Terry a few years ago
JCJ
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: Everton! (Ha ha)
billcinsd
@Alison Rose: Newcastle is the home of bags of Saudi oil money, not exactly a good place
billcinsd
I would prefer Vini gets to play in a football league where he is protected and appreciated, and not one where on his first game a rival player bit him on the head and he was the one who got a yellow card.
Well, there might be one or two where he wouldn’t get the yellow, but very few where he for sure wouldn’t be racially abused
Alison Rose
@billcinsd: That has nothing to do with the players.
Ruckus
@Ben Cisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️:
Well ShitForBrains actually is unthinkable and in many different ways. He started his adulthood (OK that’s adult AGE, not actually adulthood…he’s never reached that!) with $400 million from his father and from his siblings that he stole from them. Had he put that in any reasonable mutual fund he would have been worth $16-17 billion when he ran for president. But of course he had to prove how fucking worthless he is, in every measurable way. The only way he made any money whatsoever was investing in golf courses. And now they likely don’t have the value that they could have, because he owns them. And he’s proved to the entire world what a fucking ass he is.
OzarkHillbilly
My Mallorcan born wife is not surprised.
Citizen_X
Gee whiz, that sounds just like any one of our supposed anti-CRT crusaders in this country. “How DARE you suggest there is racism in our fair country!” High dudgeon as a defense.
The fascists are using the same tricks everywhere. As Ben said, there is no escape.
Ruckus
@Valdivia:
Humans can be weird, selfish, nasty, racist, bombastic, useless, brilliant, dangerous, stupid, vapid, narcissistic, strong, skilled, educated yet ignorant, smart but uneducated, different colors, different religions, completely unreligious, come in different sizes, linguistic yet mute, loud but stupid, gifted at one thing and useless at everything else, rich, poor, hateful or not. And I’ve run out of breath but not all the things that humans can be. Somewhere, somehow many (most?) have learned to distrust/hate those not like them and this seems, well, not universal but humanistic. We have to figure out how to be better, as individuals and as a species, or one or more of us will figure out a way to destroy the rest of us. And as our numbers grow I believe that this is getting more likely.
Ben Cisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
@Ruckus: Indeed he did. Only problem is we have a party dedicated and determined to select the biggest asshole.
Gvg
If his teammates walked out the Spanish team would win. If he leaves the league, the racists get what they want. What needs to happen is those referees need replacing with fair ones, those need to be blacklisted. The teams that allow fan behavior like that need to lose all home games for a couple of years then be on probation. Let them have to play all games on his field. Fans that are especially bad get lifetime bans. Etc. I am sure that would be hard to impossible, but that would start getting things fixed. Also they need to get over the idea it’s ok to be total wild animal as soccer fans. It’s not.it’s easy to enjoy sports without being nasty racist trash.
Valdivia
@billcinsd: Sadly there is racist abuse everywhere as you say but there are leagues were its a little better and black players like Vini do not get abused every away game with monkey chants. I really hope that gets to happen for him
Omnes Omnibus
Hey, look who’s back!
Valdivia
@OzarkHillbilly: sadly it is exactly what I have heard from many of my Spanish friends as well.
@Citizen_X: yes the similarities are uncanny. same kind of lingo and excuses. A few people even suggested that he was complaining to get a better contract with Nike or who knows what conspiracy theory. Anything but accept racist behavior exists.
Valdivia
@Gvg: yeah referees really need to clap down and sports fans need to understand acting out that way is not the way to be a fan.
According to the FIFA protocol a team can walk off the pitch if racism/homophobia is being chanted in the stadium and the officials can’t get it under control. The other team is supposed to lose. But I have never seen it done anywhere to tell you the truth.
@Omnes Omnibus: yes and with futbol rant! :)
billcinsd
@Alison Rose: Except that it allowed them to buy the contracts of many of them, so it has everything to do with the players on the team.
Alison Rose
@billcinsd: The players are not the ones who brought this about. I don’t understand your point. The whole team is trash because of Saudi money? Do you think every other football team is owned by a choir of angels?
VeniceRiley
Man City supporter here. Congrats to Newcastle on a fine year.
We are on our way to a treble with Haaland winning PL player of the year. We don’t need Vini. Hope he lands in a club where he can shine.
different-church-lady
I had no idea Spain was the Mississippi of Europe.
Paul in KY
I hope he comes to the Premier. Maybe he could play on MC’s squad….
Paul in KY
@Valdivia: Vini Jr and Erling. Would be nice (buwahahahahahaha)!!!
Paul in KY
@VeniceRiley: I’m sure Pep could do something with him…